Kindling of Wrath
by Miss-DNL
Summary: Hanzo Hasashi, better known as the Shirai Ryu assassin Scorpion originally had never planned on living the life he did, or rather had lived. His father had forbade him from joining the clan, to avoid making the same mistakes he had, but with lack of a good income Hanzo Hasashi had to break his word to his father. This is the story leading up to Hanzo becoming the specter Scorpion.
1. Chapter 1 Father and Son

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 1: Father and Son**

Oda Hasashi looked down at his son, Hanzo Hasashi, as they sat in the living room of their small old, worn, two bedroom home. Hanzo was Oda's oldest, and only, son. He was also the only other family he had at the moment. His wife had passed away when Hanzo was young, and Hanzo himself had barely survived the ordeal. Hanzo's father Oda used to be a ranking ninja in the feared, yet respected, Shirai Ryu clan. Hanzo knew this, he also knew that his mother had been killed because of his Father's job. Someone had killed his mother out of revenge, nearly killing Hanzo as well, and because of it Oda left the Shirai Ryu. Further he had forbade his son from joining the clan himself, now believe that line of work only brought misery.

Currently Oda was looking at his son's condition. He had come back yet again with bruises, cuts and scrapes. Nothing too serious but a small amount of blood was dripping from the worst cut he had on him. Hanzo was looking at the old floor paneling trying to keep himself from looking at his father's disappointed frown. He knew what he was going to say, but there was nothing he could do to stop the scolding from coming, so he waited.

"Once again you come home from a fight, Hanzo." His Father said evenly, despite the fact his voice was even Hanzo knew his Father was disappointed. When his son didn't reply Oda eyed him looking at him closely, his disapproving frown deepening, "I'm training you in martial arts to teach you _restraint **not**_ so you can get in **more** fights."

Hanzo bit his lip when his Father pinned the blame on him, now he looked at his Father in the eyes as he sat on his knees, "I **didn't **start the fight Father! They attacked **me**! I was defending myself from **them**!"

Oda knew his son was referring to the other children that lived around them, though they lived a good walk away from most houses. For a good while they live peacefully with the others but then his son began to become the target of the local bullies. They picked on him for being poor mainly, mocking the fact he didn't have things they did, as well as the fact his father was a strange old man, and the fact they lived out by themselves in an old house. Then there were Hanzo's amber colored eyes, his 'wolf eyes' often conjured dog insults from his tormentors. All around Hanzo and his father were the outcasts, and because of it he got harassed. Kids could be cruel sometimes.

At first Oda told his son to ignore it, saying that it'd pass, but it didn't. Eventually his son snapped and fought back. That didn't end well for Hanzo and he ended up coming home beaten and bruised. After that day his son's temper began to turn rash so Oda decided it'd be best to teach him martial arts. To help him learn restraint, it worked. To a degree. Hanzo could defend himself yes, but his temper remained and combined with his developing skill wasn't a good combination. Oda's son was still young though, restraint would take time to develop. Still that wouldn't save him from a talking to.

"Regardless," Oda started sternly, "You let your anger get the better of you and you turned something you could have ended quickly into a real fight." He looked at his son who turned his gaze back to the floor, "Am I right?"

"Yes Father…" Hanzo admittedly bitterly, he curled his young hands into fists. He hated the kids in their neighborhood. Why did they have to bother him? Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Why did they insist in insulting him and his father? What business was it to them? He didn't understand, and he doubted he ever would.

Hanzo looked at his father, he was older than most of the Dads around. He and his Mother had him at a later age in life, but it didn't bother Hanzo he loved his father regardless. He tried his best not to trouble his father but his recklessness got the better of him more often than not. Hanzo took his training seriously and enjoyed it. Though to his disappointment his father never seemed impressed by his progress. Hanzo was doing well for his age, but his father would never admit it. He didn't want to tempt his son to join the Shirai Ryu. The young child always wondered why his father left the clan but his father never spoke about it much. Only saying that he couldn't go on doing what he did, and that it was for his mother…

Hanzo didn't understand what his mother had to do with it, and his father didn't tell him why.

Oda looked at his bruised up son and sighed, there wasn't much he could do against his son. He knew it wasn't completely his fault, but yet he knew if he didn't learn to control his anger it'd only hinder him later in life. Still he had to do something, "We will go on with your training for today. You understand I will be firmer with you because of your actions today."

"Yes Father." Hanzo answered with a bow of his head. He lifted his head when he saw his father move from where he had been standing. The young boy watched as he came over and put an old, yet firm hand on his shoulder. Kneeling a bit due to his tall frame.

"First let's get you cleaned up." Oda said, a faint gentleness to his voice. He truly did love his son, he was the only thing that he had left in this world that mattered. His heart warmed when his son smiled back to him and nodded.

"Come on then." Hanzo's father said as he got back up to his feet and led his son into the living room. After having Hanzo sit down Oda went to go and get the medical supplies to tend to his injuries.

Hanzo looked at a scrape on his arm, caused by being shoved onto a sidewalk. He frowned bitterly at it, as much as his father wanted him to not fight his bullies there didn't seem to be much choice otherwise. He had tried ignoring them, but that was the reason why his father had to start to train him. They wouldn't leave him alone. Hanzo scrunched his nose, stupid jerks thought they could just push him around because they were bigger and older than him. He showed them, first time he punched one of them he'd left him with a nice bruise. Of course, his friends hadn't taken that lying down.

The young boy poked at the scrape on his arm, recoiling slightly when the action earned a spark of pain. He sighed, he hated being hurt it made him feel weak. Sadly he got into a fight at least every other day lately. It mainly happened when he was coming from school, his bullies were too smart to try anything before school. Every school day Hanzo had to walk to and from the bus stop. He frowned, he didn't like school. He didn't like being around other people and being told to do things he didn't care for. Still he did his work, he didn't want to disappoint his father in any other way than his recklessness already did.

Dismissing his bitter thoughts about his life he patiently waited for his father to come back into the room, which only took a moment longer. He heard the sound of a door closing and then his father came back into the living room with bandages, alcohol, and rag. His father came over and wet the rag with the alcohol preparing to clean the small wounds. Hanzo tensed just before his father began cleaning, but it only slightly prepared him from the burning sting of the alcohol cleaning his wound. He bit down on his lip to keep himself from yelping, the sting only lasted a short while, and soon as he was waiting for his father to finish so they could get to his training. This sparked a question.

"What was it like?" He asked suddenly, earning a confused quirk of a brow from his dad, so he expanded on his question, "What was it like being in the Shirai Ryu?"

His question earned a frown from his father, Hanzo frowned slightly knowing he just hit a bit of a nerve. His father didn't liked being questioned about his past, but the boy was curious. How was he supposed to not be curious? He only got more curious as the years went by. Before the look would have discouraged him as quick as his father made it but not his time.

"Father please?" Hanzo begged, "I just want to know. I already promised not to join it!"

Hanzo didn't truly understand what he had promised. His father had told him what he did as a ninja, how terrible it was but as a child the magnitude of taking a life was a bit out of comprehension. He knew it was bad, but only barely grasped **how** bad it was. Joining a clan of ninja was equitable to joining a club to the child. Only when he got older would he truly understand just what his father had done, and that he should avoid following in his footsteps at all cost. This Ode knew, every year he made his son promise the same thing on the day of his birth to keep the promise fresh in his mind. The father _knew_ what waited for him in the afterlife and he didn't want his son to suffer it. This was what he had promised to his late wife.

Ode sighed tiredly as he continued to clean and bandage his son's scrapes and cuts, "If only to stave off your curiosity."

His son grinned eagerly as he listened to what his father had to say, "I was born into the clan, my father before me had lived and died a ninja of the Shirai Ryu," Hanzo frowned at the grim beginning, he had always wondered why he didn't have a grandfather though. "The same can be said for my mother," He looked at his son sternly, "I tell you this because I want you to know the work I did only brings death."

Hanzo nodded somberly, Ode eyed his son a moment to let that sink in before continuing, "Having been born into the clan it was normal for me. The clan was a community cut off from the rest of the world. It almost seemed to be stuck in the past, but clans like that don't change much no matter how many years go by."

The former ninja's son looked at him taking in what his father had said to him, humming the boy furrowed a brow, "What's a community?"

Ode blinked before chuckling, "A group of people that live near each other my son."

"Ah." Hanzo said as he nodded, his mind putting the definition away to use later. He tilted his head a bit as he thought, it sounded normal to him. It was a group of people that lived together…but did bad things. He furrowed his brow looking back to his father, "Why do they kill people?"

"They do it to get money." Ode answered keeping it simple this time, he didn't want to remain on this topic for long. By now he had finished mending his son's scrapes and cuts, he'd put some ointment on his son's bruises after training.

Creasing his brows Hanzo thought about his father's answer, "For money?" He repeated as he came to a realization, Hanzo stared, eyes wide, at his father, "People give them money to kill people!?" Even as young as he was Hanzo knew that was very wrong. That isn't right! Hanzo tried wrapping his mind around the reason but the more he tried the more confused he became, "Why? Why would people want to do that!? I don't understand!"

Ode listened to his son's shocked ranting, eyes and voice even he says, "You know I killed for money as well son."

Hanzo stopped speaking staring at his father trying to understand why his dad would do such a thing. He tried to speak but he couldn't think of anything to say. For a long while he just stared at him, and his father patiently waited. His father killed for money? That was bad! But, his father wasn't bad…his father was good to him. Strict at times yes but he never hurt him...The more he thought about it the more he got confused. In the end all Hanzo could manage was, "Why?"

"Because it was the only option I had." Ode answered honestly to his still shocked son, he looked at him like he suddenly didn't recognize him. It hurt him but he knew this day would come, but it was better it happened now rather than later. Children were more forgiving than teenagers or adults. They could still hold a grudge but not to the same effect, or so he hopped that was right.

He frown changed to worry when silence fell between him and his son. This was why he didn't want to discuss this with his son, he didn't want his view of him to change. His son was always so _proud_ to have him as his father…he didn't want that to change to anything else. Carefully to avoid startling him Ode stroked his son's head again, "Do feel ashamed of me son?"

Hanzo snapped from his shocked confusion at his father's words and answered immediately, "No!" He yelled, before more quietly saying, "No Father…You, like you said. You didn't have a choice…."

Ode looked at his son softly, he could tell he was very confused and conflicted. The father worried for a moment, maybe he had said too much. Was it too much for his son to process? He lowered his head a bit, too late to take it back now. In a gentle manner he hugged his son, still relieved to hear what he had said. Hanzo looked up at his tall father, it wasn't often his father held him like this. So he enjoyed every time it happened, he felt safe this his father no one could harm him when he was with him. He felt his confusion drift away as he returned to hug. Ode looked at his son, a faint smile on his face, "Thank you son."

Hanzo closed his eyes as his father held him. "It's okay Father."

The boy opened his eyes when his father pulled away from him, he looked up at him waiting to see what would happen next. His father stroked his head one last time before saying, "Come let us get to your training for today. Remember I won't be going easy on you because you have a few bruises."

His son grinned up at him as his father stood up, he didn't mind that. He loved to be challenged, it helped him get stronger faster! He nodded eagerly causing his father to chuckled, "I know father!" He exclaimed before rushing down the hall, towards the backward where they trained.

"Begin." Ode said as he watched his son go through his move sets, watching for any slight sign of error. Though he was no longer Shirai Ryu he still trained his son in similar manners he had been trained. That meaning he was strict; however, he was kinder than his mentor had been after all he didn't want to treat his son in the same manner. He had been trained by his father as well, but his had been a near cruel taskmaster. Ode didn't think badly of his though it was his teaching that ensured he survived long enough _to_ have a son.

"Fix your form Hanzo, put your foot forward more, and straighten your back." Ode instructed sternly immediately his son stopped what he had been doing.

"Yes Father!" Hanzo called fixing himself, he looked to his father for approval when he nodded his son smiled slightly.

"Begin from the start," Ode instructed, his son nodded without protest and began his set over again. The father nodded approvingly and allowed his son to begin the next one. Ode was proud of his son, the sad thing was he knew he had a good fighting instinct because of the outcomes of his fights against the bullies. The more he learned the less injured he came back. The only reason Ode didn't interfere was because he worried about the backlash from the kids parents, because he **would **physically defend his child. However, if Hanzo got any bad injuries then he would punish the kids. So far it hadn't come to that.

By the time they finished the sun was beginning to set, Hanzo had gone through his longer session of training in stride. Though by the end of it he was sweaty and tired but held up well enough overall. Hanzo took a shower as his father instructed, which during that time Ode cooked dinner for the two of them so by the time his son was clean and dry the food was ready. As they ate it was quiet the two not really needing to talk as the company between them was enough for them. Looking up Ode could see his son was contemplating whether or not he was going to say something. The father said nothing waiting to see if his son was going to voice whatever it was he wanted to say. Only if it seemed like he decided against it would he ask what was on his mind.

"Father." Hanzo said as he looked at his father, it was clear he was going to ask something.

"Yes Hanzo?" Ode inquired casually as he continued to eat.

"When will you teach how to use the chained Kunai?" Hanzo inquired curiously as he looked to his father who was sitting across the small table from him. The chained Kunai was his families' signature weapon, they were known for using it expertly despite how difficult it was to master. The weapon was currently hanging in his father's room, the Kunai still sharp, still deadly. The weapon originally had a rope, but after repeated breaking his father had changed it to a light but fairly strong chain.

"When you're old enough Hanzo," The former ninja answered calmly, he understood the boy' eagerness to want to learn how to use the family weapon. He too had been enthusiastic to learn at his age. Despite the fact he forbad his son from becoming an assassin he would teach his son how to use the assassination weapon out of respect for tradition.

His son frowned knowing that answer meant he would have to wait a long time but continued to listen as his father went on, "For now it's too dangerous for you to learn that you need to build your skill before you can even use a training version of it. When you're ten you will be given a training version."

"Okay Father…." Hanzo answered disappointedly, he still had several birthdays to go before he turned ten. He poked at his food a bit thinking about it, giving in to his body's need for food he ate quietly.

Ode looked at his son a moment, his disappointment was not lost on him, he hummed thoughtfully for a moment, "But," Hanzo perked for a moment looking at his father hopefully, "You continue to do well in your training then you may start earlier."

"How much earlier?" His son asked hopefully, an excited grin on his face.

The boy's father stifled an amused chuckle, he wanted to keep a firm front as to not get the boy's hopes up in case he wasn't ready earlier. Keeping his voice normal he answered, "Perhaps when you're nine, or even eight but I won't teach you any sooner than that and that's **if** you keep doing well in your training Hanzo."

"I understand father!" The boy answered happily, his father's words served to further encourage him to practice and work even harder in his training efforts. Something that the boy would keep up with for the years to come. As was Hanzo Hasashi's nature, once he put his mind to something it was nigh impossible to discourage him. This his father knew.

"Good, now finish your food." Ode instructed, his son nodded and went back to eating. Giving his son a slight smile Ode went back to eating himself. The rest of the meal went by peacefully and quietly.

After dinner, Ode went to his room while his son went to his. Coming into the adequately sized room he looked at the chained Kunai that had been the topic of their conversation at meal time. The former assassin hadn't taken the weapon from its spot since he had left the clan. Unlike the Shirai Ryu's longtime rivals the Lin Kuei, one could leave the clan, but they'd be monitored for the rest of their lives…Ode glanced out the windows, he could sense their presence at times, and at time he could spot them in the distance, watching him and his son. He never feared his former clan mates harming Hanzo, they had more honor than that, what he worried about was them recruiting him when he was older. If they were keeping an eye on him, which he knew they were, then they'd see how his son was talented.

Ode sighed picking up the chained Kunai, holding the spear in on hand and the other holding the bundle of metal chain before sitting on his bed examining the weapon. It seemed he had sadly passed on that trait to his son. As for his son's anger, Ode admitted he had a temper when he was younger, so had his mother at times. So they both had chipped in on that respect. Ode smiled slightly, Hanzo looked a lot like he did when he was his age, and he reminded him a lot of himself really. He just hoped he wouldn't make the same mistakes he did.

Looking the Kunai at the end of the chain Ode felt a nostalgic feeling come over him, he had wielded this weapon for many years of this life. Though it was clean now the deadly point of the Kunai had tasted the blood of many people. As much as he regretted that Ode couldn't help but feel a strange fondness for the weapon. It had seen him through many years and helped support his family. It saddened him sometimes to see it hanging up on the wall, unused but he knew it was for the best. He couldn't go back to the clan now, not that they wouldn't accept him back. If he did go back he'd be made a teacher but Ode knew he wouldn't be able to stomach teaching others to kill for money, not now.

"Father." Ode looked up from the weapon to his son who was standing in the doorway to his room. Hanzo looked tired, the exercise he had been through finally effecting him, but he seemed determined to remain awake. He walked over to his father looking intently at the chained Kunai, "What are you doing with the Kunai?"

"Just thinking Hanzo." Ode said to his son as he looked over the point of the blade, he frowned slightly seeing it was sharp. Out of compulsion he had sharpened it before he stopped using it.

Hanzo pulled himself up onto the bed his father was sitting on, "Thinking about what?"

"Just thinking." The boy's father answered, he didn't want to bother his son with his rather depressing thoughts. Especially not before bed.

Figuring his father wouldn't give him a real answer Hanzo held his hand out to the Kunai, "Can I hold it?"

Ode looked at his son then to the Kunai, he was present at the moment, "Alright but only hold it. Don't swing it around, you know very well that it is not a toy."

Hanzo nodded curtly, he was too tired to think of such a thing at the moment, he just wanted to look at it. Grabbing hold of the weapon he was surprised by how heavy it was, the way his father held it made it seem lighter. Then again he wasn't even half the size his father was. He looked the Kunai over absentmindedly, the chain really made it feel more weighted than the actual Kunai was. He wondered how his father managed to toss the thing around when he was younger, but eventually he'd learn how too. The weapon didn't have much detail in it, but it didn't need to in order to serve its purpose. Handing it back to his father he yawned, "I'm going to go to bed now father."

Ode nodded to his son, "It is time for you to go to sleep. Go on, I'll be there in a moment." Hanzo nodded absently, his mind was beginning to drift off he was only responding to what he assumed his father would respond with. The older male watched as his son shifted his way out of the room, once he was gone he got up and put the chained Kunai back where it had been before. He looked at the weapon he had used for so long, it was bitterly sad to see it in such a state but that was the way it needed to be. Put safely away, out of use, so no one else would die.

By the time he reached his son's room Hanzo was already asleep, tucked away in bed. The peaceful sight made Ode smile as he silently walked over to his son. Years of assassin training hadn't nearly began to leave him, so his footsteps didn't make a sound. He adjusted the blanket over his son to ensure that he stayed warm through the night. Looking at his sleeping child, he hoped his life would be better lived than his. He was young and had much to live for in his lifetime. Ode stroked his son's head for the last time for the day.

"Learn from my mistakes my son."

* * *

**This story is supposed to line up with my "Lin Kuei Beginnings" story and "Broken Chains" story, but you don't really need to read them to understand this, but I would like it if you took a peak at them :)**

**Admittedly it's pretty...weird writing Scorpion like this. I actually sat back and thought that several times to myself while writing this. His back story didn't give me much to work off of. His Father had left the Shirai Ryu and forbade his son from joining it. That and Scorpion didn't have enough money to provide for his family, so he was poor. That's literally it. Though it does give me some wiggle room to interpret it.**

**Of course Scorpion can't not have anger issues. That'd bee too weird.**  
**Also gotta build to the level where you resurrect yourself via rage yeah still don't dig the whole being Quan Chi's servant thing. Re-birthing yourself through your own rage is cooler to me but meh.**

**Also this will go through him falling in love with Kana his wife so yeah romance. Kana is his cannon wife for those not aware.**

**Eventually I will get to the badassery though! Just hang on with me. I want to get to that just as bad as you do!**  
**(Also first time in a long time I don't have a prologue ! O.O)**

**Thanks to my friend RenagadeRexSphinx for the story title~!**

**Please Follow/Favorite &amp; Review**


	2. Chapter 2 Rude Meeting

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 2: Rude Meeting**

Hanzo Hasashi was heading home from a rather uneventful day of school. It was the usual, sit through the teacher talking, do some in class work, groan at the prospect of homework, ignore what the other kids were saying about him, eat lunch, avoid others during recess, then do the same things in class again. He liked P.E though, he got to show how good he was a physical activities then. It was one of the few times the other kids wanted to have him on their team. Not many were very keen on being around him because of his 'grouchy' personality. Hanzo didn't like being at school and he made it known. He made no efforts to get to know any one, then again no one made efforts to get to know **_him_**. They all assumed he'd was a bad kid so he let them believe that, and his temper helped. If it got him to be left alone like he wanted then Hanzo had no reason to disprove their claim.

Still, it always bothered him to see the other kids laughing and playing with their friends. That's when he felt the most alone.

Hanzo sighed dully to himself, as he walked by himself on his way to his home. His amber eyes darted around keeping an eye out for his bullies. He hadn't seen much of them at school, weakly he thought they found another target. Hanzo knew he wasn't that lucky though, they were probably just skipping school today. Knowing his luck they were probably waiting around the corner for him.

Blinking he looked and saw a new family moving in to the neighborhood. He hummed for a moment watching the movers bringing in boxes one by one. They set the boxes inside placed them down in what Hanzo assumed was the living room then went back out to get another box. Hanzo watched this process for a while, oddly finding it interesting. He'd never seen someone move in before, it'd been years since anyone had moved into their small community. They lived in a small town, near a larger city. It was only a matter of time before their town became a part of the city.

Then Hanzo spotted someone, a girl about his age. Long black hair past her shoulders, he froze a bit when he saw her looking at him. He snapped his head away from her and began to walk away. He didn't like it when people stared at him it made him feel out of place. Strange. He didn't like that, there was nothing wrong with him.

The young boy stopped when he heard something, familiar voices. Hanzo snapped his head when he saw a group of three older boys heading his way. They were his bullies. Two were Soma a shorter, but still taller than him, but stocky boy and Ryota a tall thin punkish looking boy. The leader was a Chinese boy named Chang, from what Hanzo knew his family immigrated to Japan recently. Once he moved in that was when the bullying started. Hanzo's father Oda said it was likely his way of making him feel less out of place, pick on someone supposedly stranger than he to take attention off of himself. Hanzo thought it was stupid, but so long as he was younger, smaller, and physically weaker there wasn't much he could do.

They hadn't noticed him yet, he had a chance to bolt down the street and into the woods that led to his home. However, something in him was telling him to stand his ground and fight to show them he wasn't a weak coward. It was so hard to ignore, so hard to turn away. Hanzo gritted his teeth, his father wouldn't like it if he got in a fight though. He ran down the street, he couldn't disappoint his father two days in a row. He also was still sore from the last fight plus the training he did at home.

Hanzo could hear the kids chasing after him, calling out names and insults. He hated the term 'coward' they threw out so much but he kept himself barreling forward through the woods. Soon as he was far enough ahead he climbed up a tree, getting as high as he could. He sat there listening, to the sounds of Soma, Ryota and Chang looking for him but they quickly grew bored of their little 'game' and left.

Relieved Hanzo sighed leaning his head back against the tree. He didn't feel like moving, his legs ached from the strain of running. Resting his eyes he just laid there enjoying the peace he was having for the moment. Eventually he'd have to return home but he's father would be fine with him being a little late.

"Hey! What are you doing up there?"

Hanzo furrowed his brows when he heard the voice, it wasn't a boy's voice so it wasn't his bullies. He looked down and saw it was the girl from the family that was moving in. Why in the world did she follow him all the way out here? Hanzo looked her over, she was wearing a nice white blouse, with a red skirt. Deciding to ignore her presence he leaned out of view trying to wordlessly say he wanted to be left alone. The girl didn't seem to get this.

"How'd you get up there?" She asked, Hanzo ignored her again. She stared up at where he would be and realized she hadn't introduced herself yet. Somehow she figured this was why he wasn't talking to her, "I'm Kana. What's your name?"

Hanzo looked back down at her, she was beginning to get annoying. Couldn't she tell he wanted to be left alone? He rolled his eyes at her introduction, "I don't care who you are. Go away."

Kana stiffened at the unkind response, "That was rude! I was just asking!"

"Whatever…" Hanzo replied dully he with his arms crossed looking away, hoping the girl would leave soon.

The girl in the blouse pursed her lips, looking up at the boy in the tree, looking away she crossed her arms, "I bet I could get up there too!" She said confidently.

Hanzo scoffed amusedly at this, "Yeah right." He responded. The girl hardly looked like she'd ever even touched a tree before. She was so neatly dress she looked like a doll just taken out of a box!

"I can too!" Kana snapped back arms stiffly at her sides.

Smirking to himself Hanzo looked down at her, "Then do it!" He challenged before leaning his back against the tree with a smug grin on his face.

"Just watch me!" The girl yelled back to the boy in the tree. She looked at the tall obstacle in front of her trying to decide what would be best method to overcome it. In the end she just jumped up trying to grip onto the tree, only to end up falling down onto her rear with a thud. She scrunched her brows feeling frustrated already. Hearing an amused snicker from Hanzo got her to try again immediately. However, her next try wasn't much better than the last but Kana was determined to succeed and kept trying.

Hanzo getting bored of watching the girl repeatedly fail to climb the tree shook his head and began to ignore her. Eventually she'd give up and he'd be left to his peace and quiet again. However, soon enough he heard one of her attempts was actually seeming to go well so he looked back over the side of the branch he was on. Hanzo raised a brow, she was actually climbing her way up! The amber eyed boy said nothing to this though and merely watched her, waiting to see if she'd fail or not this time.

A couple of times it seemed like she was going to slip down but Kana stubbornly clung to the tree. Finally she reached the first branch and pulled herself up. Then onto the next and the one after that soon enough Kana sat victoriously on a branch next to the one Hanzo was on. She held her head up proudly, Hanzo braced himself for what was coming, "See? Told you I could do it!"

Hanzo grinned slightly, "Yeah after failing a bunch of times!"

Kana scrunched her brows and stuck her tongue out at him, "I still did it!"

The amber eyed boy looked away, though seemed amused, "Yeah, yeah, good for you." He teased with a slight smirk.

"You're rude." Kana said with an annoyed frown, she'd never met such a person before. Then again her Father was picky about who she hung out with. Still she was curious about why the boy was up in the tree. Well she knew why but that lead to another question.

"So I've heard…" Hanzo said dully to himself his arms still crossed.

The girl blinked hearing that but decided not to question him about that, instead she decided to ask him something else, "Why were those boys chasing you?" She questioned while leaning forward slightly.

Hanzo's mood soured hearing the question, posture stiffening defensively, Kana noticed this but kept quiet as he answered, "Because they don't like that I'm not the same as them." He growled bitterly, eyes narrowing to a glare directed at nothing in particular.

Kana tilted her head not understanding the reasoning, "How are you different?"

Looking back to his apparent company he pointed to his eyes, "My eyes are a different color."

Squinting her eyes curiously trying to see his eye color. Seeing it was indeed different, a sort of tanned yellowish color-kind of. Kana smiled finding it interesting, she'd never seen an eye color like that before! Sounding excited she asked, "Wow! What kind of color is that?"

Hanzo looked at her seeming a bit surprised he blurted out an answer, "Amber."

Kana smiled at him, "They look nice." She complimented, Hanzo stared at her not used to hearing that. Not that he'd really tried to talk to people but they never talked to him either. Not in a nice manner anyway. Not seeming to notice the stunned expression on his face Kana pointed to her eyes, "Mine are just brown."

The boy looked at her eyes and they were indeed brown, a rather dark shade but it suited her he supposed. He nodded that he noticed her eye color.

Thinking Kana furrowed her brow, "So they chase you because they don't like your eye color? That seems stupid." She commented dully not sounding impressed by the reasoning.

Hanzo snorted in agreement, "It is!" He exclaimed sounding frustrated. Hanzo paused a moment, while kicking his feet, and added, "Well, it's also because my family is poor and my Father is teaching me Ninjutsu."

"Still seems stupid that they are mean because of that stuff." Kana commented with a frown. Hanzo look to her, it was weird that someone was agreeing with him but he liked it so he didn't complain. Suddenly Kana's face lit up making the boy arch a brow confusedly. He wondered what got her so excited all of a sudden. Grinning at the boy she asked, "Wait is your Dad teaching you how to be a ninja?"

"Well, sort of," Hanzo half answered, he rubbed his neck feeling a bit nervous all of a sudden. He wasn't sure how to take someone being interested in what he was being taught. It honestly made him feel a bit, well…shy.

Looking back to the girl she had a confused look on her face. Hanzo looked away while he answered, "I mean he's teaching me fighting skills, stealth and stuff but he doesn't actually want me to be a ninja."

Understanding now Kana nodded, "Oh I get it now."

Hanzo looked at the girl suddenly feeling curious, "Why where you staring at me when I was outside of your house?"

"Huh?" Kana said with a quirk of her brow, realizing what he was asking, "Oh, well you were just kind of standing there staring at the movers." Hanzo stopped a moment realizing he had been standing and staring. Kind of embarrassing really. He perked when the girl went on, "Also you seemed kind of lonely."

The amber eyed boy bristled at the teasing tone, "I did not!" He yelled indignantly getting an amused giggle from the girl making him blush.

"Yes you did!" Kana teased finding the blush on the boy's face looked kind of funny.

"Did not…" Hanzo muttered to himself, he huffed trying to rub the blush off of his cheeks. Of course it didn't work but he liked to think it did. Looking to his home Hanzo realized he'd been sitting in the tree for a while. His father was probably wonder where he was. He looked back over to Kana, "I gotta go. My Father is waiting for me."

"Is he going to teach you more ninja stuff today?" She asked excitedly, Kana had never heard of anyone's Dad teaching them Ninjutsu before!

"Yeah, I get lessons every day." Hanzo answered normally with a slight shrug.

"Can I watch?" Kana ask leaning forward a bit again, excited hopefulness in her voice.

"You want to watch?" Hanzo questioned expression becoming surprised and more so when the girl nodded to him. The amber eyed boy soon found himself smiling, excited by the thought of someone being interested in what he was learning. He thought for a moment, "I don't know, no one has ever come over before…" He looked to her grinning excitedly, "Let's go ask my Father!"

"Okay!" Kana responded with a nod. The girl watched as the boy easily jumped down from the tree. She bit her lip wondering if she could copy that, carefully she scooted herself off the branch. The girl didn't want to seem like a scaredy cat after all. Once off the branch she fell to the ground landing on her butt.

"You okay?" Hanzo asked, he'd forgotten that the girl wasn't trained like he was. He was relieved when she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Kana answered. She blinked when Hanzo held his hand out to her, she thought he'd tease him. Kana smiled and took his hand letting the amber eyed boy help her back to her feet. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all, even if he was a bit rude.

Hanzo led the girl a little further into the area, the woods giving way to a more clear area which in the middle sat a small older looking home. A stone pathway leading up to the home and around to the backyard which was fenced off. Hanzo with a quick pace walked partway over to the home. Looking back to the girl he suddenly felt a bit worried what she thought of his home. He pushed those thoughts away, it didn't really matter what she thought of his house he trained in the backyard anyway. Motioning to his house he says, "Here's my home."

Kana looked at the house, it was clear it was an older home but that wasn't an issue for her. She didn't really care what it looked like, kind of made it look homey in a way in fact. She smiled to the boy, she hoped they could be friends, "It looks nice."

The amber eyed boy smiled slightly, the girls wasn't as bad as he first thought. Still he wasn't about to call her a friend just yet. Walking over to the home, Kana in tow, he opened the front door with his key and called inside, "Father I'm home!"

Kana stared as the tall frame of Hanzo's father came into view. She'd never seen someone so tall. Get over the surprising height she saw he was also older than she thought he'd be but defiantly didn't seem like a feeble old man. Especially since he didn't seem _that_ old. Kana lowered her head when Hanzo's father spotted her feeling intimidated by the bigger person. Oda's stern face didn't really help. Meekly she waved at him, her voice quiet, "Hello."

Oda was perplexed by the sight of his son with another child. His son had never seemed interested in befriending other children, or liking socializing in general for that matter. It had honestly been worrying for the Father. He couldn't just keep himself closed off for all of his life, but Oda had no way of making his son play with other children. He had tried a couple of times but his son would find ways of keeping to himself. Now with the sudden presence of another child he was confused, yet at the same time he was hopeful. Maybe his son finally found a friend, and a girl for that matter. He took it as a good sign.

"Hanzo, who is this with you?" Oda asked as he looked at the girl, previously he was going to ask what kept his son but he was clearly fine so it wasn't of concern.

"This is Kana," Hanzo introduced motioning to the girl, "She just moved in and she wants to watch me train!" He chimed before looking at the girl then back to his father, "Can she watch Father?"

The father was a bit surprised by his son's excitement, but he was a child after all and this would be his first time having someone over. Or have someone show interest in what he was being taught for that matter, so he was sure it was natural. Looking to the girl he could see she was intimidated by him but he ignored that. Thinking a moment he figured there was no harm in letting her watch so he nodded, "I don't see why not, but there is time before your training starts."

"I know Father, I'll work on my homework first." Hanzo answered normally.

Oda nodded to this then looked at the girl, "Do your parents know that you're out here?"

Kana lowered her gaze a bit making Oda frown, clearly he parents did not know she wandered. Hanzo looked to her seeming a bit worried that she wouldn't be able to stay. Smiling warily she says, "I'll go ask my Daddy…"

Hanzo's father shook his head, he didn't want to risk ruining his son's first playdate but he didn't want to get this girl's parents upset with him either. Sadly the girl's parents took priority, "Yes you will and I'll take you to them to be safe." Oda glanced back at his son, as expected the child looked upset his possible playmate might not be able to stay. Guiding the girl back outside Oda says to his son, "Work on your homework Hanzo. I'll try and see about getting your new friend's parents to let her come over."

"Yes Father…" Hanzo said obediently his voice low with disappointment, he watched sadly as his father shut the door and left with Kana. He sighed as he headed to his room to do his homework. What should he have expected anyway? Of course it'd turn out like this. Noticing the dismal thoughts Hanzo shook his head dismissing them. His father would work something out, surely he would.

Pulling his small backpack off his back he tossed it onto his bed before pulling out his homework. He frowned at his math homework, he'd do that last. Hanzo had never liked math, and he didn't know what he'd do with it outside of school. He pulled out his history homework, this was something he liked to do. Not because it was easier but because he found it interesting. He also had some writing homework but that was easy enough for him. Pulling out a pencil he set to work, at least now he didn't have noisy classmates distracting him from his work.

Sitting in the silence Hanzo did his work, waiting for his Father to come home with Kana's parents' answer. He figured if it was a no he could go over to her house the next day and ask if she could come over. The amber eyed boy scrunched his brow, he didn't want to wait though! Hanzo blinked, that was a first he'd never gotten upset about not being able to play with someone before. Then again this was the first time he'd found someone he liked being around even though it had only be a short while. Hanzo could tell this girl was nice though. He hoped her parent's wouldn't be upset with her and let her come over for a bit.

Eventually Hanzo finished his homework, each paper didn't have that many questions on it since his wasn't far along his schooling. The math took a bit because it was math and for writing he had a small passage to read. Hanzo sighed, he really didn't care for school, but he was done with it for the day so he put his school supplies up.

He hadn't heard his father return so it was just him in the house. The young boy looked around his room he didn't have many toys, he preferred playing outside but right now he didn't feel like that. For a moment he stood there before wandering out of his room and towards his father's room. Normally he didn't go into his father's room out of principal. It was after all it wasn't his room. It was his father's. It wasn't right to go looking around someone's room without their permission. He wasn't going to take anything or rummage around though, Hanzo just wanted to look at something.

Hanzo opened the door carefully like his father was still in their home. Looking inside he saw that the room liked like it always did. Pushing the door all the way open Hanzo slipped inside heading right over to what he wanted to look at.

Hung on the wall was his father's chained kunai. Hanzo had always been attracted to the weapon and his interest grew every year. His father had chalked it up to their bloodline specializing in the weapon. It was in his son's blood to want to learn how to wield and eventually master the chained kunai.

The item was of course out of his reach for the time being, but Hanzo just wanted to look. He knew the item was dangerous, his father would remind him whenever he was around it so it was pretty hard to forget that fact.

'I'll learn how to use it when I get older, and I'll master it just like Father has.' Hanzo thought to himself, his inner voice brimming with determination. He'd master it, even if he wasn't going to be a Shirai Ryu. He'd master like his father and his fore fathers. If anything he'd do it just to make his father proud of him, that's all he ever wanted.

Having done what he wanted to do Hanzo quietly left the room shutting the door behind him. His father still wasn't home, he'd return soon though Hanzo figured. He sighed softly he didn't know what to do now. Further Hanzo was still slightly tense with anticipation to find out if Kana could come over or not. The only way to find that out was to wait. He grumbled a bit to himself out of irritation. He hated waiting, but he had no other choice.

Coming into the living room Hanzo went over to the window and resigned himself to sit there and wait. His father typically said he needed to learn to be patient once a week or so, maybe he could get a bit of practice on that. Hardly three minutes went by and the young boy was already bored with staring out the window. Not like there was much to see outside, he'd seen the woods since he was born after all and they hadn't changed much. Hanzo turned his head and looked at the living room. It was modest, there was a couch facing a small TV. Hanzo didn't watch much TV but his father liked to know what was going on with the world. Oda particularly liked hearing about deaths with no clear suspect. Hanzo briefly wondered if his father tried to figure out if they'd been killed by the Shirai Ryu. It couldn't be the Lin Kuei, the Shirai Ryu had managed to keep them out of their home turf though Oda said they'd still try at times. Afterwards his father told him something that was true about all Lin Kuei,

"The stubbornness of the Lin Kuei is unmatched and is the only thing that matches their ruthlessness."

Of course the child had never encountered a Lin Kuei ninja to see if this was actually true, but he had heard from his father that the clan was even older than the Shirai Ryu. He supposed it took some amount of stubbornness to stick around that long. In the end though none of that was important. He had promised his father he'd never join the Shirai Ryu, so his chance of meeting a Lin Kuei was slim.

Hanzo perked when he spotted his father's tall form heading back to the house, an excited grin covered his face when he saw Kana with him. He'd really have to thank his father for getting Kana's parents to let her come over. Quickly he hurried over to the door and pulled it over, "They said yes?" He exclaimed.

Even though he figured her being with his father meant yes he wanted to be sure. Seeing a bright smile form on Kana's face was enough confirmation though. Kana ran over to Hanzo stopping in front of him she nodded eagerly, "Yeah, Dad said it'd be best since their moving big stuff around."

"Great!" Hanzo exclaimed happily with a big grin, this was great! He felt great! He was really beginning to hope this meant he could be friend with this girl. She didn't think his eyes were weird, she didn't seem to mind he wasn't so well off money wise and even found his training cool! The last part was what really made him happy, he enjoyed his training more than anything after all.

"Hanzo, why don't you let her inside?" Oda said with an arched brow, pointing out that his son was standing in the middle of the door way.

Oda's son perked in slight, and brief, embarrassment before he quickly moved out of the way, "Oh, sorry." He apologized quickly.

"It's okay." Kana piped after she walked into the home, Hanzo's father walking in after her shutting the door behind him. Curious she looked around at what she could see of the house. Wasn't much and had an older feel to it but she quickly grew disinterested and looked to Hanzo, "Can I see your room?" She asked curiously.

Hanzo looked to his father looking for his approval. Oda looked down at his son, typically he would not postpone the time his training started but seeing as this was his son's first time with a friend over Oda was feeling a little lenient. He nodded to Hanzo, "I'll give you thirty minutes extra before your training starts. Use it wisely."

"Yes Father!" Hanzo responded happily, grinning he took Kana's hand and led her down the hall to his room.

Oda smiled softly as he watched his son run off with his new friend. He hadn't seen his son this excited about something other than training in what seemed like forever. It had been far too long and it delighted him that it was about making a friend. Of course he kept himself calm and composed but he was happy nonetheless. His new friend being a girl gave him hope for his son's future though. Yes, it he couldn't guarantee that the two would take interest in each other when they grew older, or even stayed friends that long, but there was always a chance. He'd always worried that with his son's solitary nature he'd have trouble finding a partner in the future. Now with Kana there was a little more hope. Hopefully the two remained friends long enough for him to get a better idea whether it'd happen or not. Moving into the living room Oda clicked on the TV a smile on his lips as he said to himself in a joking manner, "Maybe I will get to have Grandchildren."

Inside of his room Hanzo was completely unaware of his father's thoughts on his new friend. He was currently more focused on what he was going to do in his room. He didn't have much, but he didn't really ask for much from his father in the way of material things. He'd given up on that a long time ago, he had learned early on that you can always get what you want. Sitting on his bed he tapped his feet together as he and Kana sat silently in his room. Hanzo really wasn't sure what they should do. He looked at Kana she was quietly just looking around his room.

Kana looked around the room, there were a few toys lying sparingly about the room. None of them really caught her eye in particular. The walls were bare and there was a cloth curtain hanging by the window. A few books were on a short book shelf, but what caught her eye was the training equipment lying neatly over in one corner of the room. Particularly the wooden practice sword. Smiling she went over and picked the wooden sword up, "Cool, do you use this to practice sword fighting?"

Hanzo nodded, "Yeah that's my bokken. Father made it for me when I started my sword fighting practice."

Hopping off his bed he went over to Kana, once she handed him the bokken, he took a sword stance and did a few swings, "I really want to learn how to wield two swords though! I thought about using a ōdachi, a great sword, but using two mugai ryu or ninja blades seems cooler to me. They're also faster to use!"

During the whole time he had been talking about what type of swords he wanted to learn to use a big eager grin had been on his face. Realizing how excited he had acted Hanzo froze before shyly turning his head away, "Well, I think it's cooler anyway."

Kana thought about it, "I guess two swords would be better than one." She shrugged a bit, she didn't know enough about swords to really give an opinion. Using two swords instead of one did seem more effective though.

Hanzo gave her a slight smile, thankful she had poked fun at his overexcitement. He smiled in a confident manner, "That's what I think."

Kana smiled before sitting on Hanzo's bed, "So do you train every day?" She asked curiously.

The amber eyed boy nodded, "Yep," He grinned at her, "And I get better every day!"

"Of course!" Kana laughed, going along with the boy's statement, "Practice makes perfect right?"

"Right!" Hanzo agreed with a happy grin.

Oda smiled to himself as he listened to the happy chatter coming from his son's room. It made him feel good himself. Such was a parent, the child was happy the parent felt happy themselves. Oda looked at the clock, of course not much time had passed. Still plenty of time for Hanzo to chat away and play, and maybe just maybe Oda would accidently lose track of time. The father chuckled at the thought, it was his first time having a friend over after all. He wanted his son to enjoy it, hopefully it'd encourage him to be more social. Maybe, his son was a loner by nature but at the least it served as encouragement for him to keep this friend.

Looking at the TV Oda watched the news, nothing too eye catching so far but he continued to watch. He tensed slightly as a murder was brought up. Oda recognized the work, clean and precise and no suspects. He sighed to himself, muttering, "Seems the clan is still in business…"

It was no surprise really. The clan was the largest assassination group in Japan, it was almost a monopoly. There was always people who wanted contracts as well, most of society feared the thought but in the end there was always a market for it. The clan also stole things as well, but their main money maker would always be assassinations. The Shirai Ryu is was part of societies dark side. It had been centuries since the Shirai Ryo were formed from a splinter group of the Lin Kuei. Takeda the founder had begun to think the Lin Kuei were growing corrupt so he fled to Japan to start his own clan. For many years he evaded assassination attempts, long enough for him to have a suitable heir to take his place. In the end though he died by poisoned tea, though there was no proof the Shirai Ryu suspected the Lin Kuei was behind the murder. Only adding fuel for the hatred between the clans.

Far as Oda was concerned, any assassination group has corruption to some degree. There is no honor in killing for money. He only wished he had seen it sooner.

As for the Lin Kuei, their ruthlessness and lack of mercy spoke for itself. For a while what worried Oda were strange killings with ice…he couldn't figure out how it was done. He knew no Shirai Ryu had that ability, so he suspected Lin Kuei since incidents were mainly in China. Even if he was no longer Shirai Ryu it concerned him that the Lin Kuei had such power at their disposal.

Sighing faintly to himself Oda pushed his concern towards the assassin clans out of his head. He was no longer a part of it, it was not his issue. As much as he told himself that he knew part of himself would always be concerned for his clan. A small part of the fellowship the father had for the clan would never go away. He could only resist it pulling him back to the clan, something he had gotten very good at doing.

After passing the time watching the news for a while longer, during which he pinned one other murder being done by his former clan, Oda got up and headed to his son's room. It had been a total of forty minutes but he decided not to mention that. As usual Hanzo was eager to get to his training, this time he asked if they'd be focusing on swordplay. Oda confirmed this and they headed outside. It was a bit amusing though he had to correct him on occasion but it was clear his son was trying to show off a bit to his new friend. The father had to withhold a chuckle to this as he recalled doing the same with his own friends. Other than that the training went normally. Afterwards he smiled when the girl Kana was impressed by what his son had done, earning a prideful grin from Hanzo. Oda gave his son and the girl a drink and a snack before letting them chat a bit as his son was too tired to play.

"So you're going to go to my school?" Hanzo asked as he held a cup of water in his hands.

"Yeah, it's the closest one to my house," Kana answered with a smile, "Maybe we'll get the same teacher!"

The amber eyed boy perked up happily, "That'd be great!"

Oda smiled again at the sight, maybe now his son would actually be interested in going to school. He had never gone to any public school, all of his schooling had been done in the Shirai Ryu. It was part of the reason why he didn't have a very high paying job but he had enough good schooling to get a decent one. He knew his son was smart he just needed a reason to be interested in schooling. Hopefully a friend would at least make him more eager to go.

Of course soon the time came for Kana to go home. As with before Oda was going to escort the child back to her house. As they were walking out the door Kana turned back to Hanzo, who was hiding his sad feelings with an indifferent face, she smiled brightly with a wave, "See you tomorrow!"

Hanzo brightened and waved back to her, "Okay, see you tomorrow!"

While they were walking back Oda looked to the little girl, "I'm very thankful you decided to meet my son today. You're probably the first friend he's made."

"Well, he was kind of rude when I first met him." Kana mentioned normally, not meaning anything really negative towards the boy.

Oda sighed, he should have known, "Yes, he tends to be very blunt about things…I apologize for his behavior."

Kana smiled clearly having gotten over the negatives the meeting. "It's okay. He's actually not that bad once I got to know him. I think he was just a little lonely."

Oda looked down and smiled at the child, "You're probably right, he doesn't really spend much time with people other than myself and children need to play with others at least once in a while." Kana nodded in agreement to this. "I hope you'll help him with that."

"I will Mr. Hasashi!" Kana declared with a big smile.

"I'm happy to hear that." Oda said with a slight chuckle as he continued to walk her back to her home.

* * *

**Ah! Finally got this done!**  
**As I said before, it's pretty weird writing this. I'm getting over this and I'm actually reading a good story to help with this that has something similar. At least in regards with writing a childhood sort of thing. It's called Dawning of a New Son a really good Danny Phantom AU fic. I'd only suggest reading it if you have A LOT of free time. The chapters are long and it has over 50 chapters and is still going. **

**Anyhow in regards to the chapter I had a bit of trouble filling out the length but after I found a few elements I wanted to touch on things slowly fell into place. Such as Hanzo's social life, or lack their of. I never pictured Hanzo/Scorpion as a social guy growing up, being a bit of an outcast of course doesn't help. Being younger though at the moment he is more open to the idea though, but as he gets older it'll be tougher but pre-undead not nigh impossible as undead specter Scorpion. As for Kana...I have to flesh her out a bit...considering she only has been really shown once and that's sadly MK: Legacy now her part wasn't bad it was nice to see her with Hanzo but of course she was only shown s she could die soon after. I decided to make her the more accepting curious child, so she'd find Hanzo's training interesting but also a bit of a daring/stubborn side so she wouldn't back down despite his rougher personality and of course wandering off a bit.**

**I really like writing for Oda he's a good father with a troubled past which I think is fitting for Hanzo.**

**I also liked writing the parts dealing with the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu, but that's a given. As for the ice killings no that isn't Bi-Han or his younger brother Kuai Liang. That's actually their father, but he won't show up seeing as this story stays in Japan. It's just a bit of a nod to his resistance. Also interesting enough Scorpion's apprentice Takeda has the same name as his clan's founder.**

**So... that makes**

**A Sub-Zero who died and another who lived...and a Kung Lao who died and another lived...and a Takeda who died and another who lived...**

**Please follow/favorite &amp; Review! It helps motivate me ^^**


	3. Chapter 3 School Day

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 3: School Day**

Hanzo grumbled to himself as he walked himself to the school bus stop. Being that he lived in a small town there were only a few school busses and fewer that took them. Hanzo luckily lived on the outskirts so he didn't have to walk all the way to the school. Still it was early in the morning, the sun had just come up over the horizon. It wasn't that Hanzo hate mornings, he always got up early, it was the fact he was going to school that was causing him to be irritable. Walking on the concrete path he huffed to himself, "Stupid school…"

Looking forward he saw the bus stop, no one else was present. Hanzo expected this he usually was the first to arrive. Standing there by himself he shivered feeling a cold breeze blow by, Hanzo shook it off. He didn't care for the cold but his school uniform wasn't helping. It wasn't really meant to hold off cold weather.

Hearing some other kids approaching, Hanzo looked over to them briefly. It was just a group of three friends chatting away with each other. He paid them no mind and they did the same for him, they were busy talking away with amongst themselves. Hanzo didn't really care for what they were talking about, it was none of his business, but from what he did catch it was something about what they'd be doing in class today. Hanzo didn't have any of them in his class so it didn't pertain to him. He glanced at them before looking away again, he was a bit jealous, just a bit, that they didn't just have to wait for the bus to come.

Then he perked a moment, what about Kana? He looked around hoping to catch sight of the girl, Hanzo frowned not seeing her. He looked to the ground, Kana's parents probably drove her to school. If that was so then she was certainly lucky. Hanzo snapped himself from those thoughts, he glanced about again. There was still plenty of time before the bus showed up no reason to give up yet.

Time passed, others arrived at the bus stop forming a nicely sized group. Hanzo recognized them all, he had waited at this stop with these kids since Hanzo himself started school. A couple were older than him, a few younger, but what remained the same is that even after all this time Hanzo hardly knew any of them. To them he was just a person that was present, he was of no concern to them. He held little importance in their lives, so they didn't bother with him. Two had class with him and they did their best to keep their distance, he was known for his short fuse. They had nothing against him, they just didn't want to risk setting him off.

Hanzo shifted impatiently, the bus would be arriving soon. On one hand Soma hadn't shown up, he was the only one of his bullies that didn't get driven to school but on the other hand Kana still hadn't shown up either. The young boy was about to sigh when he perked seeing Kana crossing the street with an adult man walking just behind her. Hanzo looked at the man he assumed was her father, he was an average looking man with nice hair, clean shaven and neat attire. Hanzo smiled when Kana spotted him and brightened, waving at him.

Waving back Hanzo greeted her, inwardly he was excited by her appearance, "Hello Kana."

"Hello Hanzo!" The young girl called back as she rushed over to him, a bright smile on her face, "Looks like we'll be taking the bus together!" She added happily, Hanzo nodded to her comment.

Hearing her father finally catch up Kana happily introduced her friend to him, "This is my Dad." She then grabbed Hanzo's and hand pointed to him, "Dad this is my friend Hanzo!"

Hanzo looked up at the man and bowed his head respectfully, "Hello sir."

Kana's father looked at the boy and nodded, he liked his respectful behavior. He then turned his attention to his daughter, "I've got to get to work now. Remember you take the same bus home. Your mother will be home by then."

"I'll remember Daddy." Kana answered.

"Good, you have your key?" He father asked.

Checking a pocket on the side of her backpack she nodded, "Yes I have it." Looking up she saw her Father begin to leave she waved to him while saying, "Bye, Daddy! Have a good day at work!"

Her father waved back before continuing back to their home. Hanzo watched the scene play out with interest before turning his head to Kana once her father was gone, "Does your Mom work too?"

Kana nodded, "Yeah she works at a clothing store, my Daddy works at an office for a company. What does your Dad do?"

"My Father works at a butcher shop, he cuts the meat up." Hanzo answered normally, his father's previous "work" help him a bit with that. Also made him less squeamish about anything involving blood.

The girl blinked, that was an interesting job she supposed. Quickly, her minded popped up another question, "What's the name of your teacher?"

Hanzo quickly caught on to why she asked, silently he hoped they had the same teacher before he answered her, "My teacher's name is Akira. Yours?"

When Kana frown Hanzo did as well, he knew that meant they didn't have the same teacher. Her disappointment reflected on her voice, "My teacher is Fukui. I guess we don't have the same teachers." She kicked the ground lightly while letting out a sad sigh.

Looking back to her friend she was surprised to see a smile on his face. It caused her to arch brow in confusion while she waited for him to explain his reaction. Noticing his expression confused her Hanzo didn't answer, instead he smirked at her slyly. Obviously telling her that he knew something that she didn't. Quickly Kana became irate with him and told him so with an annoyed look. Hanzo only grinned back at her much to her frustration.

Eventually the young girl gave him and made her demand, "Just tell me already! Don't be a jerk!" She huffed arms crossed.

Hanzo chuckled, "Okay, I just realized that Miss. Fukui is right next to my teacher!" The amber eyed boy smiled happily, "She teaches the same grade a Mr. Akira so that means we'll have recess together!" He chimed happily, feeling proud of himself for noticing that.

Kana eyes widen, any disappointment in them had been snuffed out, it wasn't being in the same class but it was close enough, "That's great!" She cheered.

The two students from Hanzo's classroom stared, they had never seen Hanzo happy to see someone let alone openly talk to someone. He'd always been by himself and was happy to be left alone. Hanzo had always seem upset when someone tried to talk with him. Not many tried though he always had this air about him that deterred anyone from trying. The two had never talked to him before but they knew this was a new development. One of the two nudged the other and motioned to someone was approaching. Seeing the incoming student the second kid frowned, it was Soma. By the expression his face they knew he was out to cause trouble. Soma had been a nice guy until Ryota moved in and proved to be a bad influence. Now Soma liked to cause trouble and bully. Their favorite was the loner outcast Hanzo. The group of bullies didn't seem to learn when Hanzo began to fight back, now it was pay back for them. The two exchanged wary glances, this wasn't going to go well.

Hanzo continued to chat with Kana, they were talking about what the teachers were like. The boy saying that Miss. Fukui seemed nice from what he'd seen of her between classes, and that his teacher was rather boring for him. While they were chatting Hanzo looked happy, he felt happy at least he did until he spotted Soma approaching then he got a bitterly angry look on his face.

Watching her friend's face twist into a look of anger Kana looked over her shoulder. She couldn't pin it but she thought the boy looked familiar. Moving a little closer to Hanzo she whispered, "Is he one of the boys that were chasing you yesterday?"

Hanzo said nothing and nodded stiffly, his amber eyes not leaving Soma for a second. Kana frowned, she already didn't like this boy if he enjoyed picking on her friend. Both of the kids stiffened as Soma approached. Glancing at Hanzo Kana began to get worried about the aggressive look in her friend's eyes. It looked like he was just waiting for an excuse to punch Soma.

"Is it actually possible that dog boy made a friend?" Soma commented with a smug grin on his face. When Hanzo responded with a glare while baring his teeth at him the snorted unimpressed by the other boy's display. He smirked jabbing at Kana with his finger, "And a girl at that? Is she going to teach you to be less of an eye sore?" Soma let out a faux sigh, "Afraid she can fix those freaky eyes of yours though."

"Hey!" Kana said sharply as she pulled away from his poking, rubbing her arm to try and rid herself of the sensation.

Hanzo bristled angrily when he began prodding Kana and moved in front of her, growling, "Leave her alone!" He demanded before narrowing his eyes, "If anyone needs to be less of an eyesore it's you Soma…"

The older boy glared right back at Hanzo, "Standing up for your new girlfriend dog boy?"

Hanzo faltered at the statement, her and him? His child mind immediately thought-EW! They were just friends! He shivered at the thought of them being a couple that implied kissing and kissing was gross! He glanced at Kana, not that she was gross or anything…kissing was! Suddenly he felt confused, and his face was hot.

Soma seeing the blush creep across the amber eyed boy's face started to laugh, "Ha! Look at him blush! So it's true! The stray dog has a girlfriend! Isn't that cute?"

Hearing a few chuckles from the other kids at the bus stop, albeit most faint, only made the embarrassment rushing through Hanzo worse and his blush brighter. Looking to the ground he balled his hands up tightly and trembled at his building anger. He wanted to hit him! To vent out this anger that was threatening to burst out from him! He needed to do something to make him stop mocking him, and giving him a black eye seemed like a logical choice right now.

_Hanzo…_Kana thought sadly seeing her friend get publicly embarrassed. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Soma, the other kids were going to let this just happen but she wasn't!

"Knock it off!" Kana shouted suddenly causing everyone to be silent, "Stop being a stupid jerk! Be quiet and just wait for the bus like a normal person!"

Everyone stared, stunned silent nobody had expected the new girl to speak up like this. Hanzo stared at her too, no one had stood up for him before. Snapping his yes back to Soma waiting for his reaction to this. He glared at him again, daring him to try anything, daring him to give him an excuse to hit him. Hanzo would be willing to take another lecture from his father if it was fighting to defend his only friend.

Soma glared at Kana but then seeing the searing glare Hanzo was giving him froze. The younger boy looked like he was ready to beat him to a pulp! He flinched the first time he fought back was still stuck in his mind. That had been beyond embarrassing and he had been the first to go down. As much as he wanted pay back he knew he couldn't take him on his own. Not with the stupid training Hanzo was apparently going through thanks to his freaky old dad. Wisely Soma decided to back off, huffing, "Whatever…"

Hanzo watched in surprised as Soma walked off moving a few feet from the bus stop before stopping, sulking with his hands in his pockets. He turned his head to Kana, her brow eyes still showing irritation. He smiled at her, touching her hand to get her attention back, "Thanks Kana."

Feeling the need to remind her he was tough he looked away briskly adding, "I could have handled myself though…"

Kana smiled, ignoring his bravado and taking his gratitude, "Your welcome, that's what friends are for right?"

The amber eyed boy nodded silently a smile on his face. For the rest of their wait Hanzo and Kana were silent, letting their nerves and emotions settle. Hanzo was content with just waiting with his friend. Though from time to time he glanced at Soma to keep an eye on him. When the bus arrived Hanzo wanted to sit towards the back but Kana suggested they should sit up front. Claiming that it'd help make Soma leave him alone. Liking the sound of that Hanzo agreed and they sat up front. As it turned out it worked. Soma sat at the back making it impossible for him to bother Hanzo. Better yet they also got off the bus first giving him time to make it to class unbothered.

"Thanks again Kana. I'll see you at lunch!" Hanzo said as he waved good-bye to her and entered the classroom.

"You're welcome! See at lunch!" Kana answered as she waved back before heading into her classroom next door.

Sitting at his seat at the end of the second row to the back of the classroom Hanzo waited for class to start. His bus had arrived a few minutes early, there were a few people already in class but they were no one he cared about. He just wanted to get the first half of school over so he could go enjoy lunch and recess with Kana. He smiled remembering Kana getting Soma to back down, it was kind of funny looking back on it.

Seeing a boy walk over to the teacher's desk Hanzo furrowed a brow, _is he a new student? _When he showed Mr. Akira the paper Hanzo knew it was a new student. The boy had sort of messy looking black hair and was of course wearing the school uniform. He frowned when his teacher pointed him over to the empty seat next to them. Between this and the only other empty seat in the class it had to be his. He shrugged it off, he was too in a good mood to really be bothered.

"Hi," The boy greeted as he sat down next to him.

"Hey," Hanzo responded back barely turning his head to him. He frowned disapprovingly when he began to lean forward towards him invading his personal space. Hanzo scooted his chair over to get his space back, "What are you doing?" He snapped irately.

"Oh, sorry," The boy apologized sheepishly, "I was trying to tell what sort of eye color you had."

"Why?" Hanzo questioned turning his head to him. That was a really weird thing to do. That or this kid didn't know how to behave towards others. Or had a weird obsession with eyes, he hoped it was the first thing.

"Um," The boy paused trying to figure out what to say then he perked when he had an answer, "Because I kind of saw you had color I hadn't seen before!" He laughed awkwardly with a rather silly grin on his face.

Hanzo looked at him a moment before grunting and looking back ahead, "its amber. Happy now?"

"Yes." The boy admitted, he held his hand out to him, "I'm Katsuro Inazuma. You?"

Hanzo looked at his hand taking it slowly, "Hanzo Hasashi."

Katsuro brightened at the introduction and gave his hand a lively shake, "Nice to meet you," He laughed sheepishly, "Sorry about being weird, I'm kind of nervous about being a new school…"

"Don't be, this school is no different from the rest." Hanzo assured normally. His explanation for his behavior didn't really make sense but he didn't dwell on it long as the teacher called Katsuro to the front of the class. The amber eyed boy watched as the new kid walked up to the front of the class, bowing before he began to speak. Seeing as he'd be sitting next to him for the rest of the school year he listened.

"Hello, I'm Katsuro Inazuma. My family recently moved out of the city because my parents didn't like living there. I like living out in this town too because it's not as noisy in the city. My favorite subject is math. I like computers and video games. Also I hope to make new friends in my new school!"

The class clapped when Katsuro finished his introduction speech, getting the new boy to smile. Mr. Akira praised him for his introduction and dismissed him back to his seat. He smiled to Hanzo who gave him a slight smile back to satisfy him. He was still odd to him, who liked math? Again he shrugged it off, none of his business. He liked history and plenty of people found that boring.

_At least he can help me with math_, Hanzo figured, and when they did math for the day Katsuro did in fact help him out. That certainly made up for the earlier weirdness. In return Hanzo helped him know where the class was at in the other subjects.

When the bell for lunch finally rang Hanzo had already put his stuff away and hurried out that door. Katsuro saw this and hurried to put his things away before rushing after him. Hanzo ran a little faster than he thought he could and by the time he caught up Hanzo was already in line for food. As he headed over to the line he noticed a girl was with him, figuring it was a friend of his he got in line. With a few people in front of him he had to wait. Once he got his tray of food he went over to where he saw the two sit down to eat.

"Can I sit with you two?" Katsuro asked politely as he stood at the end of the table.

"Sure," Hanzo answered, the new kid smiled appreciatively and sat across from him. Seeing Kana look a little confused Hanzo took the liberty of introducing them, "Kana this is Katsuro he's a new kid from my class."

"You're new here too? So am I!" Kana said happily, "I just moved in yesterday with my family! We moved in from the city!"

Katsuro blinked at the coincidence, "Wow, same here. Guess I don't live near you guys because I haven't seen any other moving trucks around my place."

"Guess not, we didn't see you on our bus today." Kana pointed out, Hanzo nodding silently as he ate his lunch.

"Oh so you guys live near each other?" Katsuro pointed out, again Hanzo nodded quietly as he continued to eat his meal.

"Yeah, well sort of," Kana replied looked at Hanzo who merely looked back at her, mouth full of food, "Hanzo kind of lives out in a more wooded place near where I live. It's not far though."

Swallowing Hanzo spoke up, "Me and my Father live out by ourselves near the community Kana lives in." He added, inwardly proud he got to use the word his father explained to him a couple days ago.

"It must be cool to live out in the woods." Katsuro commented with a smile before taking a bit to eat from the food on his tray. Hanzo merely shrugged, he didn't see animals every day and it meant he had to walk to his bus stop but it was alright to him.

"What about your Mom, Hanzo?" The sudden question from Kana made Hanzo's face go blank and he put the food he had scooped up back on his plate. Kana blinked confusedly, she had asked because she hadn't seen her yesterday when she visited. At the time she thought she merely wasn't home but now that Hanzo had mentioned only him and his dad she wondered where she was. Seeing the faintly pained look on her friend's face she wished she hadn't asked, "Hanzo?"

"I don't want to talk about it…" Hanzo said in a hushed voice as he looked down at his food, he didn't like talking about his Mom. It only reminded him that he didn't have one. He'd never be able to see her. He didn't even get to remember her…she had died when he was too young for the memories to stick.

Realizing she had touched a sore subject Kana regretted bringing it up, "Sorry Hanzo I didn't mean-"

Hanzo cut her off before she could finish her apology, "Don't be. It's not your fault, just don't bring it up okay?" He half muttered while poking at his food.

His two friends exchanged worried looks but didn't press the issue further. The rest of their lunch was in silence as dreary air hanging around Hanzo pressured them to keep quiet. Once they finished eating and headed out to lunch Kana made it her mission to cheer her friend up to make up for upsetting him. She grabbed onto his hand and pulled him forward, "Come on! I know a great game to play! You come too Katsuro!"

The other new kid perked up and quickly followed close behind, giggle at the fact that Hanzo was being dragged along. Hanzo shot him an irate look that only resulted in Katsuro giggling again. He rolled his eyes and shifted to willingly following Kana to stop being dragged around.

Soon enough he was playing a game of tag with his friends. Of course he had gotten tricked into being 'it' first when Kana suddenly tagged him right off the bat. Hearing of the no 'tag backs' rule he chased after Katsuro. The new kid proved to be a bit faster than he thought he would be but eventually he tagged him. So he went after Kana who then went after Hanzo again. The girl was determined but Hanzo's training made it easy for him to keep ahead of her. Hanzo got a good feeling she'd be upset if he just let her catch him, so instead he turned sharply in attempt to go around to let her get him as he passed. However, this caused him to trip and fall down with a thud.

"Are you okay?" Kana gasped as she caught up.

"Yeah…" Hanzo grumbled as he rubbed his face, then he felt a tap on his head.

"You're it." Kana chimed in victory.

"Oh yeah?" Hanzo said with a smirk before tagging her back, "Now you're it!" He declared before running away.

"Hey! No tag backs!" Kana yelled before chasing after her friend, Hanzo laughing as he kept ahead of him caused her to get steamed, "Get back here!"

"No way!" Hanzo laughed keeping his lead, he had long forgot about what had upset him earlier now he just wanted to play!

"Hey guys wait for me!" Katsuro yelled as he chased after them. This lead to him getting tagged but he didn't mind and chased after Hanzo eventually causing the cycle to begin all over again. They played the game all recess long causing it to easily be the best recess Hanzo had ever had since Ryota started coming to his school.

When Oda's son returned home he quickly noticed the overall happy expression of his son. Sitting in the living room he smiled, "Enjoy your day at school my son?"

Hanzo walked into their living room, walking onto a large faux bamboo floor mat that their small coffee table sat on, he smiled brightly, "Yeah! Me, Kana and Katsuro played tag all during recess it was the best time ever!"

Oda quirked a brow not recognizing one of the names his son listed, "Who is Katsuro?" Feeling hopeful he tried to answer his own question with another, "He a new friend you made?"

To his father's happiness Hanzo nodded, "Uh huh, he's a new kid in my class, he's a bit weird but he's okay. Fun to play tag with, Kana seems to like him enough."

"It's good to hear you made another friend Hanzo," Oda replied, it was interesting he was putting Kana's thoughts on the new kid into consideration. Typically he didn't care for what others thought but so far the girl's seem to matter to him. She was his first friend so that was likely the reason, but if it got his son to be more open Oda was fine with it. Unless it backfired that is but he didn't think that'd happen soon, Kana seemed like a good girl.

Getting up from his seat on the couch Oda chuckled, "Well I hope you still have energy left for your training because fun recess or not you're still going to train."

Hanzo took that at a challenge and quickly put a determined look on his face, "I'm always ready for my training father!"

"Well if that's the case go put your school supplies away and meet me in the backyard." Oda answered with a pleased smirk on his face. His son quickly darted off to his room yelling back his compliance. Heading to the back yard the older father couldn't help but let his smile show again, his son had made another friend. He sighed in relief as he entered their quaint backyard and sat under a tree they had, it was good to see him finally having fun again. Since that boy from China showed up he only seemed to be bitter and frustrated but things were finally working in his son's favor. Hanzo was finally happy again, and Oda couldn't feel happier for his son he just hoped things would continue to improve.

Seeing his son come out into the yard he put his teaching face on, "Now then, let's begin."

* * *

**Hey guys! I'm back with another ch!**

**It's getting steadily less weird to write Hanzo like this so I'm getting it done fast lol. A pretty simple chapter but needed nonetheless. **

**Yes, I made a straight up oc, but Hanzo had so few legit connections prior to being undead (unlike his Dad) so I needed to make some characters to fill the void. Couldn't just be him, Kana and his Dad through the whole things. Katsuro does hold some importance later on though, and no he's not going to be a love rival. I'll say that much right now. **

**Please Follow/Favorite and Review! Every bit helps. **


	4. Chapter 4 Noteworthy Day

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 4: Noteworthy Day**

"Alright class I'm handing out your math worksheet, I want you to complete them before lunch. Remember you can use the notes we just took on how to solve a problem, and feel free to work with a classmate to complete the, but **no** copying. If I catch you copying you'll get a zero on the assignment."

"Yes Mr. Akira." The class said in unison before quietly beginning to work on the worksheet he had handed out.

It had been a month since Katsuro had joined Hanzo's class. The two had become good friends during that time. Even if he did say odd things sometimes, but those had come less frequent over time. The boy was rather curious about Hanzo's father and his training. Hanzo supposed it was normal since he was the only kid in the entire school learning actual Ninjutsu. He also didn't live near him and Kana so he didn't get to come over and watch his training. Instead he'd ask ever few days how it was going. Hanzo would tell him if he was learning anything new that seemed to satisfy him.

Kana was still his friend as well of course, his best friend even. Some boys teased him about it but he'd give them a good glare and that shut them up-at least while he was in the area. Hanzo had gotten better about getting into fights. Having friends seemed to help with that. It took him a while to get used to having people stick up for him but he came to like it. He was grateful to say the least. He still had the bullies that live near him but Kana helped him avoid them.

Hanzo didn't like avoid them, he wanted to face Ryota and his gang but he didn't want to make his father disappointed. The more time went by the more Hanzo felt he'd be disappointed if he suddenly got into a fight again. So Hanzo did his best to listen to Kana, but all while he did he'd feel like he was being a coward…

"Hey Hanzo." Katsuro said to his friend as he worked on a math problem. He was on question four while Hanzo was finishing two. Hanzo had gotten better at math with his help, but still didn't solve them as quickly. Hanzo would never understand why Katsuro liked math, it was annoying and troublesome.

Hanzo gave a blunt hum to show he heard him. He wanted to question two so he could move on. The faster he finished this the more spare time he had before lunch.

"My birthdays coming up." Katsuro said as he looked at him friend, Hanzo stopped focusing on his work to look at him. The messy haired boy smiled at him, "I was wondering if you'd want to come to my party."

Hanzo looked at him a moment, processing what he just said before nodding, "Yeah, sure. I'll ask my Dad about it."

"Great." Katsuro said still smiling, then he paused a moment only to smile again, "Think Kana will come?"

"I'm sure she'll want to," The amber eyed boy said with a smile, but then he looked thought as he stared down as his work sheet, "but it'll depend if her parents let her I guess." He lifted his head and looked at Katsuro, "Do you have and invitations or something? Adults like to have info when letting kids go over another home."

"Invitations?" Katsuro echoed, blinking he sighed, "No I don't, I'll have to make two then." He grumbled as he scribbled down the answer to number five.

"It's just going to be us?" Hanzo questioned furrowing his brow, Katsuro nodded. Hanzo thought his friend would invited more people. He seemed like the type of kid that would have at least four or five friends, but Hanzo wasn't very good at gauging what kind of person would be popular. Come to think of it he hadn't even really thought what made a person popular before now.

"Yeah it's just going to be us that okay?" Katsuro questioned tilting his head to the side.

Hanzo nodded, finishing number three on the worksheet, "I was just surprised you didn't have more people to invite that's all."

"Oh well uh-I just don't…like talking to other people much," Katsuro said quickly, keeping his eyes down on his paper. Hanzo looked at him with a brow arched but said nothing. Katsuro would get like this at times, just become shy all of a sudden. Hanzo looked at him for a moment longer but his friend kept his grey eyes on his paper. Not wanting to bother him about it, the last time he did Katsuro had acted like he was going to panic or something. Hanzo had worried he'd lost a friend that time but after a while he calmed down, much to his relief.

"I just don't feel like making more friends…" Katsuro said briskly after a while getting Hanzo to look at him, he smiled in a shy yet somehow wary manner, "You and Kana are the only friends I need."

Hanzo smiled at him, nodding accepting his words, "its fine, a small party sounds better anyway. Big ones sound are too noisy." He half muttered looking irate all of a sudden.

Katsuro looked relieved then furrowed his brows when his friend got upset all of a sudden, curious he questions him, "You went to a big party before."

Writing down another answer he nods curtly, "Yeah, Father wanted me to make friends before I made friends with you and Kana." He huffed, resting the side of his face on his hand as he spoke to Katsuro, "So he made me go to a kid's party. He was in my class last year. His Mom had him handing out invitations to the entire class. It was the only reason I got invited. I didn't want to go, but Father saw the invite when I was doing my homework in our living room. He thought it was a good way for me to make friends."

Hanzo groaned recalling the party, "Most of the class showed up to the party." He huffed rolling his amber eyes, "Most of them didn't even know the kid, he was a quiet kid but everyone came because their parents were throwing a big party. It had tons of games, food, and other stuff. I dropped my gift off and sat at a table by the food."

"Did you try to have fun? It sounds like it was a pretty fun party." Katsuro asked. 

"I did play a couple of the games, I just didn't really like the noise…" Hanzo said looking away, recalling all the loud noises of people yelling, laughing, too much talking going at once, it was chaos. He shoved the memory of his mind before continuing, "That it felt-weird-not really knowing the birthday kid but being at his party." Mulling the memory over a while long Hanzo shrugged, "But it wasn't _too_ bad I guess, but I still like a smaller party better."

Tapping his pencil on his paper for a moment thinking about what Hanzo had said briefly before nodding in agreement. Quickly he got a grin on his face, "So what do you think we should do at the party?"

Hanzo looked at him a moment, "It's your party, we'll do what you want."

"Yeah, but it's just going to be us," Katsuro reasoned as he looked down at his paper, "I don't want to be the only one having fun. So any ideas?"

Hanzo hummed looking up at the ceiling as he thought, couldn't hurt to give some ideas. Smiling he looked to his friend, "What about we watch a movie?"

Katsuro perked up hearing that and nodded, then he sudden stopped a moment thinking about something. Head titled a bit he asked a question, "What kind of movies does Kana like?" Hanzo blinked, he hadn't thought about that. Katsuro furrowed his brow, "I don't have any Princess or girly movies," seeing the disapproving look Hanzo was giving him Katsuro quickly put his hands up, "not there's anything wrong with those!" Hanzo's friend rubbed his neck, "I just don't have any."

Hanzo looked at his friend before deciding to pardon what his friend had said, much to his relief. The amber eyed boy didn't like it when people just judged off the face of things, Kana wasn't just a girl she was his friend but he really didn't know what kind of movies she liked. If she did like those kind of movies they'd just have find something she wouldn't mind. Hanzo shrugged, "We'll ask her at lunch."

Saying nothing Katsuro nodded to him. Inwardly he sighed in relief, Hanzo could really give someone a bad look. It was pretty intimidating at times. Leading Katsuro to wonder how his bullies thought he'd be a good target. He wondered if they were scarier than him, somehow he didn't believe that. Then again he hadn't met any of them. Maybe with Kana helping Hanzo avoid them they'd gotten bored? Whatever it was he was happy his friend was having an easier time.

The rest of the time in class was relatively quiet save for the two of them occasionally helping each other on the worksheet. The two managed to finish with a few minutes of free time left. Time they spent talking to each other of course.

"So was your Dad an actual ninja?" Hanzo sighed when he heard Katsuro's question. Aside from his curiosity about his training, his friend was oddly curious about his father. Kana was also curious but less than Katsuro was. Hanzo nodded to his friend, this seemed to entice Katsuro to follow up with another question. "Did he ever say what that was like?"

"He doesn't really like to talk about it." Hanzo answered looking away a bit, signaling he didn't want to discuss it either. His father had already warned him not to discuss his past with others. Thankfully Katsuro got the hint and nodded he understood.

A while later the bell finally rang, signaling the end of class and the beginning of lunch. Hanzo and Katsuro gathered put their things away and headed out of class together. They met Kana outside her classroom next door, exchanged greetings and headed to the cafeteria. Sitting down at their usual table, over in the corner of the noisy room, Katsuro decided to tell her about his birthday party. As expected Kana was excited to hear about it.

"Sure I'd love to come! I'll tell my Mom and Dad about it." Kana answered happily much to her two other friends delight.

"Great!" Katsuro exclaimed with a bright smile before deflating into embarrassment, "Uh, I'll get the invitation soon as I can…"

"Okay." The girl answered simple.

"Don't worry about it so much." Hanzo said recognizing the hint of embarrassment on his face. His friend worried too much sometimes. Kana blinked, having not realized he'd been upset about forgetting.

"Yeah, okay," Katsuro muttered as he poked at his food, he knew it was useless to fret in front of Hanzo. It bugged the amber eyed friend if he mopped over something and would persistently tell him to stop worrying over it. Perking back up he looked to Kana, "Hanzo and I want to watch movie at my party. So I want to know what kind of movies you like."

"He's worried you only like girly Princess movies." Hanzo snickered as he pointed his thumb at Katsuro. The other boy jumped slightly before giving him a look for telling on him. Hanzo grinned, amused by his reaction.

Katsuro lowered his head slightly when Kana looked at him a moment. He smiled sheepishly in embarrassment hoping she wouldn't be too mad. Thankfully Kana seemed to move on to pondering his question instead of being upset. Katsuro let out a faint sigh then shot Hanzo another look when he heard him snicker. The boy's attention went back to their friend when she started to answer.

"Well, I do like those kinds but I don't think I have a favorite type." Kana answered with a slight shrug. She took a bite of her food as she mulled it over some more, "I do want to see some karate action movies."

"Oh I have a lot of those!" Katsuro exclaimed, he thought a moment, "Maybe we could watch a bunch of them."

"That sounds fun." Kana agreed with a smile, Hanzo nodded quietly as he ate. The girl hummed briefly while tilting her head, "So is it going to be like a sleep over, movie marathon party then?"

Katsuro's eyes widened in awe, "That's a great idea. I'll ask my Dad about it!"

Hanzo blinked, _I've never been to a sleep over before…_He thought to himself before smiling at the thought. If it was just with his friends he didn't mind the idea, still he found himself a little uneasy about being away from his father for a whole night. He shoved the thought away so his friends wouldn't notice.

Katsuro did notice however, and decided to take his mind off it. He looked to Kana, a plan already in his mind, "So Kana," The girl had food in her mouth so she just looked to him. "I bet you got curious because of Hanzo's training huh?"

The girl looked at him and nodded, Hanzo perked having heard his name. He looked to Kana then looked to Katsuro, getting a bit suspicious when he saw a particular grin on his face. Both him and Kana expression's turned confused when he started giggling to himself. Clearly he found something funny but neither could figure what it was. What was funny about Hanzo getting Kana interested in martial arts? Hanzo felt a chill go up his spine when he started to hum a tune.

"Hanzo and Kana sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Katsuro sang with a big grin on his face while teetering left and right on his seat. Hanzo and Kana both blushed in embarrassment, Kana looking down at her lap unsure about what to do in this situation. At first Hanzo stared at Katsuro in shock but then he reeled back as if ill. There was only one way out of this that Hanzo could think of.

"Ew! **Gross**!" He spat, sticking out his tongue, Katsuro stopped his song and Kana looked at him wide eyed. Hanzo shook his head, face still red, "She's my friend! I wouldn't kiss her! **Gross**!"

Kana knitted her brows, looking offended, "Are you saying I'm gross!"

Hearing the yell Hanzo pulled back and slumped down, he hadn't intended to insult his best friend like that. Katsuro lowered his head, he hadn't intended this either. He just wanted to poke fun at Hanzo, and get his mind off of whatever was worrying him. Instead now Kana was upset at Hanzo and Katsuro didn't know what to do. Warily Katsuro looked around people were looking in their direction, having heard Kana's yell they wanted to see what was going on and what would happen. This made the grey eyed boy more uneasy about the situation.

Hanzo shook his head feverishly, he didn't want his best friend to be mad at him, "N-No! Just the kissing part!"

The girl sitting across from Hanzo looked at him, Hanzo shifted under her gaze until calmed somewhat and sighed roughly, "Okay then…" She half muttered before getting back to her food.

Hanzo was somewhat relieved, she still seemed upset but not as upset as before. He rubbed his face trying to wipe the embarrassment off but some of it still lingered. The amber eyed boy went back to eating his food in silence, every so often glancing at his Kana to see if she got less upset. So far he couldn't see any improvement which worried him. Still he remained silent to avoid making things worse, as did Katsuro who could barely hide his guilty expression. This left the three to eat in uneasy silence, the cafeteria was noisy yes but for them it may have well been empty save for the three of them. The other students who had been observing went back to minding their own business after noticing whatever had been going on had calmed down.

Feeling the pressure mounting on him Katsuro gripped his utensil until it became unbearable, he didn't want to cause trouble for his friends! He had to apologize and now.

"Kana, I'm sorry." The girl looked at him confused, blinking her eyes, "I just wanted to poke a little fun that's all. I didn't mean to get you mad at Hanzo, he was just embarrassed that's all. Please don't be upset with him." Kana looked at him in surprise, Hanzo as well neither expected an apology from him. They hadn't even thought about it being his fault they were too preoccupied with their situation with each other. Turning his head to Hanzo, Katsuro finished his apology, "I'm sorry to you too Hanzo."

"It's fine…" Hanzo answered his voice drifting off a bit, he was still surprised by the sudden apology. His gaze then drifted back to Kana, and to his relief she had calmed, looked surprised but calmed.

"Yeah, I accept too Katsuro." Kana answered, sounding much more like herself. She smiled sheepishly to Hanzo, "I'm sorry too Hanzo, I was embarrassed too…"

"Same here, I'm sorry too." Hanzo apologized with a sincere smile, a feeling of relief filled his stomach putting him at ease again.

"Let's finish our lunches then so we can go to recess." Kana suggested, the two boys agreed readily. The trio finished their lunches and headed out to recess. The brief issue was gone from their minds as they enjoyed the break from class.

The rest of the school day went by uneventfully. After recess they trio went back to class, Kana returning to Miss. Fukui's class while Katsuro and Hanzo returned to their own class. The class period was the typical lecture then worksheet, turn in worksheet, and move onto the next subject then Mr. Akira would wrap things up. He'd remind them of their homework, tell them to study, the usual stuff. Once the bell rang over the school speakers the other students in their class left the room while others were still putting their things away. Hanzo was one of those due to the last worksheet taking him a little longer than planned.

Katsuro was packing his things away as well when he suddenly seemed to remember something. He looked to his friend who was almost done packing, he hesitated a moment before speaking, "Hanzo." His friend looked up to him, "Do you think it I could come over sometime? Maybe before or after my birthday?"

Hanzo blinked then smiled, "I'll have to ask my Father about it." He paused a moment, "Any reason why?"

"Not really, just thought it'd be fun. Maybe get to actually watch you practice! You're always talking about it." Katsuro answered as he zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

"That's because you always ask me about it." Hanzo corrected with a grins as he slipped his own backpack on.

"That's true." Hanzo's grey eyed friend admitted with a light shrug. Heading to the door he waved his friend good-bye, "See yah next week Hanzo! I'll have the invitations by next time Monday!"

Waving his friend good-bye in return Hanzo realized that today was in fact Friday. He blinked to himself, Hanzo hadn't realized the week had gone by so quickly. He shrugged it off and headed out of class. To no surprise Kana was waiting outside the door for him. Hanzo smiled seeing this, Kana had started doing this when she started going to his school. It was nice to have someone waiting for him outside of class.

"The party is going to be a lot of fun! I just know it!" Kana exclaimed excitedly as they rode the boss back to their neighborhood. Her voice was hardly heard among the others chattering away in the school bus.

Hanzo nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I hope Father will let me go. I've never been away from the house overnight…" He said softly looking down at his shoes, he didn't know how he felt about that either.

Kana looked at her friend, appearing worried a moment before smiling reassuringly, "I'm sure he will. Your Dad wants you to have fun outside of training after all!"

"Yeah, you're right." Hanzo agreed with a smile, then he looked back at his shoes his smile turning wary. Uncertainty sitting his stomach like a rock. Hanzo gripped his knees, he didn't like this feeling. He turned his head back to Kana, "I guess I'm just kind of…nervous about it." Hanzo turned his head when he felt Kana put her hand on his shoulder. 

"Don't worry, me and Katsuro will be there with you." She reassured.

"Thanks Kana," Hanzo thanked with a grateful nod of his head. Inwardly though, Hanzo still felt nervous but he didn't want to ruin Kana's attempt to cheer him up. It had helped after all. Pushing the feeling to the back of his mind he looked out the window of the school bus. The outside world was going back fast. Currently they were in the town, nothing much had changed in the town. It still looked peaceful as it always did. It was relaxing to see in a way.

This pleasant mood was quickly ruined when a ball of paper bounced off his head, startling Hanzo into jumping up on his seat. Already knowing who did this Hanzo's anger quickly flared, hair bristling he growled through gritted teeth. Unable to see Soma from his point in the bus Hanzo snatched the paper ball, taking his anger out on it by crushing in his child sized hand. Next to him Kana tried to catch his attention by saying his name but Hanzo was too busy picturing Soma's smug look in his mind.

When another paper ball hit his head Hanzo anger spiked and he nearly shot up from his seat, Kana thankfully manage to sit him back down just as he was about to do it. Hanzo stared at her, anger still in his amber eyes but not directed at her. It was clear he wanted to know why she stopped him, if he were calmer Hanzo would have known the answer.

Kana shook her head, "Don't do it Hanzo. We're on the bus. We'll just tell the bus driver okay?"

For a moment Hanzo was silent, looking at his friend as he mulled the idea over. As usual a part of him just wanted to wait till they were off the bust to settle this with Soma. That idea was demanding that he'd do it. He wasn't weak, he wasn't a coward! He could put Soma in his place! Another part of him of course agreed with Kana, pointing out he'd get in trouble with Father and that this would only cause retaliation from Ryota's gang. Hanzo furrowed his brows together as he thought hard about his choice, he wanted to agree with Kana but the anger burning in his stomach was hard to ignore.

"Hanzo…" Kana pleaded, she really didn't want her friend to get in a fight let alone get in trouble with his father. Hearing her tone Hanzo's hard expression fell realizing her concern and nodded quietly. The anger was still there but subdued, he took a breath to ease himself a little more as Kana told the bus driver what was going on-it was easy since they were sitting in the front row. Hanzo admitted there was slight satisfaction when the bus driver yelled back to Soma. Seeing as Soma had a history of causing trouble, particularly for Hanzo, it didn't take much for him to believe Kana. The bus driver threatened to inform the school about his behavior, again, if he didn't stop.

When the bus driver yelled the bus feel quiet allowing Hanzo to hear a begrudging "Yes sir," from Soma. Hanzo smirked a bit when he heard that. Kana smiled to him, and he returned the smile in kind before looking back out the window. He gripped the old brown bus seat in attempt to relieve the frustration and anger that was in him. Hanzo withheld a gulp, he'd relieve this during training.

Eventually the bus entered their neighborhood, the town scenery changing to a quiet community with a woodland surrounding. At the first stop Soma got off, his house being towards the entrance of the area. As he walked past Kana and Hanzo he shot them both a bad look. Hanzo returned the look with one that dared him to try anything, anger clear as day in his eyes. Inwardly the look made Soma wary but he buried it and went down the bus stairs to exit the vehicle.

Once he was gone Hanzo's mood mellowed quickly allowing him to become calm again. Soon it was his and Kana's turn to get off the bus. The two friends got off the bus, Hanzo following Kana part way to her house before she turned around and gave him a hug out of nowhere. This startled the boy slightly, she hadn't done this before. Quickly he found the gesture nice and returned it. The hug was brief, nothing more than a gesture of friendship.

"I'll come over and play with you tomorrow!" Kana called as she walked away, waving good-bye as she did. Hanzo's father approving his friendship had no issue with Kana dropping by whenever she could. Typically she came over every other day or a few days in a row, whenever she could manage.

"Alright." Hanzo answered back, waving in return before he turned and headed to his home. He always looked forward to her visits. The amber eyed boy wondered what they'd do this time. He pondered this as he walked home.

"I'm home Father." Hanzo called into the home as he usually did when he returned from school. As usual Oda called back to him, telling his son that he was in the kitchen and for him to wait in the dining room. Hanzo slipped his shoes off after locking the door and headed through the home to the dining room. Putting his pack back against a wall Hanzo took a seat by the table.

Sniffing the air Hanzo tried to guess what was for dinner. He could smell chicken, briefly the boy hummed trying to guess but gave up after a moment. Leaning where he sat he tried to peer into the kitchen. Inside he could see his father focusing on making dinner. Suddenly cooking seemed interesting to the child and he perked up, "Can I help you make dinner father?"

Oda stopped what he was doing and looked at his son, he'd never really shown interest before. Seeing the eager gleam in his eyes Oda decided to indulge his son's curiosity. He'd needed to learn eventually anyway. With a nod the father pointed to the sink, "Wash your hands and you can help."

Happily Hanzo left the dining table and went over to wash his hands, after that his father told him to roll his sleeves up and join him. Hanzo listened carefully as his father told him what to do and tried to copy as best he could. Things of course didn't turn out perfectly but this only momentarily discouraged the boy. In the end Hanzo was proud of what he accomplished, it was clear the food had been prepared by a child but it was still edible. Oda hadn't let Hanzo actually cook anything yet, or touch the meat. He wasn't ready for that but he'd done well for his age.

Sitting back at the table the father and son began eating their meal. Hanzo watched happily as his father at something he helped prepare. He knew he had only helped cut up the vegetables but it still made him feel happy.

Spotting his backpack against the wall Hanzo remembered what had happened at school, "Oh Father!"

Oda looked up from his meal, brow arched from hearing his son's excitement, "Yes son?"

Hanzo paused eyes looking up as he thought, "Actually its a few things." He decided to start with what would happen sooner, "First Kana is coming over tomorrow."

"That's fine, you know she can come over whenever. We typically don't do much after all." Oda answered calmly with a nod. Hanzo nodded back, he knew this the son just liked to give his father a heads up. Just in case there was something going on tomorrow. Eating some of the food Oda went on to say, "What are the other two things you seem so excited about?" The father's voice had a bit of a lighthearted chuckle at the end.

"Well, Katsuro wants to come over sometime." Hanzo stated as he looked at his father, waiting for a reaction. Briefly he seemed confused before recalling who Katsuro was.

"The other friend of yours?" Oda asked to be sure he was recalling correctly. When Hanzo nodded the father thought for a moment, "I haven't met this boy yet," He said almost to himself before nodding to his son, "Yes, that'll be fine. It's time I met Katsuro."

Hanzo smiled, he knew his father wanted to meet Katsuro in person to make sure the boy was a good influence on him but at least he was letting him come over. He was sure he'd like Katsuro, despite his occasional oddness.

"And the last thing?" Oda asked with a smile, it was good to hear such good news from his son. Two friends, one wanting to come over and the other coming over tomorrow. It helped his heart rest easy at night. Looking at his son he saw Hanzo perk in a particularly happy manner, apparently this was the best one.

"Katsuro's birthday is coming up! He's going to have a sleepover birthday party! He invited me, can I go?" Hanzo asked with a slight childish pleading to his voice as he looked across the table to his father.

This time Oda looked surprised, a sleepover? The father thought about this, he didn't know much about Katsuro or his parents. As much as he was happy for his son he was still his father and as such his safety was his top priority. Still he couldn't crush his son's hopes. With a hum he looked at his son, glancing at his backpack, "Do you have an invitation with his address?"

Hanzo shifted in his seat and shook his head, "He doesn't have them yet, he'll give me one on Monday." The boy frowned as he watched his father sigh, he had a feeling this would happen. Adults liked having information after all.

Knowing his son was worried that he couldn't go Oda softened his tone a little, "Hanzo, I know you want to go and **I **_want_ to let you go but you know I need his address and phone number first. Once I get that I'll talk to his father for a bit, then you can go alright?" Hanzo's mood lightened a bit and nodded.

"When is this party anyhow?" Oda asked in an offhand manner as he continued to eat.

"Um, soon?" Hanzo answered with a sheepish grin.

"Hanzo..." Oda said with a long sigh, seemed his son forgot to ask about the date, "just be sure it's on the invitation." He said, deciding not to reprimand his son, he'd likely gotten excited and forgot to ask. Hanzo nodded quickly, he wouldn't forget next time. He wasn't about to mess up and miss going to the party.

* * *

**Okay, next chapter done, and its longer than the last! Whoo!**

**Anyhow this one took a bit, I'm struggling with my sleeping pattern. (Though at least I managed to write some during my sleepless nights) That and I had to watch a Great Dan pup we found (and I was paranoid about her using my room as a toilet at night...) so yeah stuff happened. The chapter was written slowly...up until the bus scene after that it wrote itself.**

**Still not happy with the cafeteria scene, not completely sure of my children writing skills.**

**Also the bullies aren't a main focus, their kids and I don't want them to seem like lunatics, nor make the school system look bad. They don't want trouble from parents after all.**

**Other than that, my profile will have an up to day status on stories check there to see what's going on. Also I'm novelizing an rp my friend and I did featuring her ocs. If you think I should post it here PM me, I'm unsure about it. **

**Please Follow/Favorite &amp; Review!**


	5. Chapter 5 Conversation

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 5: Conversation**

Hanzo tugged the blanket on his bed forward, looking at how nicely made bed was now, he sighed tiredly. Looking over his shoulder at his room, it was clean, but there wasn't much to be left around to begin with. Hanzo never really played with the toys he had. The amber eyed boy mostly kept them to keep his room from feeling so empty, and he _did_ play with them when he had nothing else to do. Pulling himself up onto his bed he sat down, cleaning his room had been the least of his chores today.

Being that only Hanzo and his father lived here, they had to split the chores when it went to cleaning. They typically kept the house pretty clean so when it was cleaning day they didn't have to do much. It was still a lot for a child though. Still Hanzo didn't complain much, the one time he had he'd ended up with even more chores. The young boy didn't not want that to happen again, especially since Kana would be coming over today!

Today he'd helped his father clean the kitchen after they ate, which he helped cook again. His father had taken care most of it, namely the eggs, but he got to help with the rice! The kitchen had been the hardest to clean and took the longest. Then Hanzo had to go pick up the living room and clean his bathroom. He never liked cleaning the bathroom, scrubbing the toilet was gross. After that he cleaned his room from top to bottom, he never minded cleaning his room, it always made his room feel fresh afterwards.

Later today though he'd have to take a bath, Hanzo huffed dully to himself. He wasn't dirty. Why did he have to take one now? Couldn't he wait until next week? Hanzo knew he'd definitely be dirty by then. **Then** he'd take one without a fuss.

Looking his room over once more he checked for any messy spots he might have missed, checking off each area in his head: bed check, closet check, dresser check, bookshelf check, toys check, floor check, etc. Hanzo smiled to himself, yep he was done! Now it was time to go and tell his father!

Leaving his room, door left open behind him, Hanzo looked around the hallway. He didn't know where his father was right now. So he decided to call for him, "Father!"

Shortly after he got his response, "I'm in my room Hanzo."

A quick trot down the hall and Hanzo saw his father sorting through his old things. The amber eyed boy's eyes went wide when he saw his father dutifully folding something. Wide smile on his face Hanzo hurried over to his bed side, "Is that your Shirai Ryu uniform?" He exclaimed.

Oda blinked in surprise when his son suddenly bolted over to the bed. The father hummed, mostly to himself, the uniform brought out a lot of old memories he wished stayed buried. The only reason he had it out now was because he had cleaned it earlier. As much as he wanted to forget that part of his life he knew it was impossible. Even though he didn't use the uniform anymore he wanted to keep it in good shape out of respect for his former comrades. Also Oda's former "job" did lead him to meet his wife…With a curt nod he answered his son, "Yes it is."

"Can I see?"

A tired sigh came from his father making Hanzo crease his brows in confusion. Oda shook his head, "No not now Hanzo. I just finished folding it."

Hanzo looked at his father worriedly, he sounded upset. Was it because he asked to see it? He wasn't going to join the clan just because he saw the uniform…He frowned worriedly, his father was just standing there staring at the uniform then. His gaze seemed to stretch beyond that of the folded uniform that laid on the bed. Hanzo began to grow worried and was really starting to believe he had done something wrong. Appearing guilty he tugged on his father's pants leg, "Father, is something wrong?"

Oda eyes snapped from their thousand yard stare as he heard his son speak. Looking down at him he saw a very concerned yet guilty look on his face. Mentally he cursed himself for zoning out, now his son thought he'd done something wrong. Quickly he shook his head and picked up his uniform, best put it away, "No, no Hanzo nothing's wrong. I just got stuck in memories."

"I didn't do anything wrong?" Hanzo questioned as his father stuck the black and yellow uniform back into the closet. He knew his father had just said he'd been reflecting on memories but he wanted to be sure.

Closing the closet Oda turned around and knelt down in front of his son, he ruffled his black hair, "No you didn't do anything wrong." Hanzo looked up and smiled at him brightly, any worry completely gone from his expression. Oda in turn bore a smile, some of his stress alleviated. Getting back to his feet the father sighed, "Maybe at a better time, you could see it."

Hanzo tilted his head to the side a bit, unsure of what to make of his father's tone, it sounded odd, distant almost, "Do you mean tomorrow?"

"We'll see." Oda answered, Hanzo frowned he knew what _that _meant. It meant he wouldn't get to see the uniform for a long while. Deciding against saying something about it Hanzo kept quiet, his father clearly wasn't in the best of moods. He perked, looking back up to his father when he began to speak again, "Did you finish cleaning?"

Hanzo nodded, "Yes, I finished my room."

"Alright, I'll go look it over." Oda said before striding out of the room, Hanzo right on his heels. Coming into his son's room he looked around, appearing pleased he looked at his son nodding approvingly, "Very good Hanzo."

His son beamed proudly to him, then he brightened excitedly, "So when Kana comes over I can go out and play with her?"

Oda chuckled seeing how excited he was, "Yes, you can play with her when she arrives. Unless you somehow managed to make a large mess before that." He chuckled teasingly, ruffing his son's hair more than he liked.

Naturally Hanzo shrugged away and began fixing his hair, irately pouting, "I won't make a mess…" He muttered as he smoothed his black hair out.

"I know you won't." Oda admitted still sounding amused before leaving his son's room, "I still have cleaning to do I'll be in my room. I'm sure Kana will arrive soon, why don't you go think about what you want to play when she arrives?"

"Okay." Hanzo said as he left the room. Sitting his on his bed Hanzo looked around his room, feeling some pride in cleaning it. Then just as quickly he felt stumped. Usually the boy just let Kana pick what'd they do, he didn't have much creativity when it came to games. Only time he picked is when he wanted to play something they already played. He supposed they could play one of their favorite games again like tag or hide and seek.

Hanzo giggled to himself, he always frustrated Kana with his hiding spots. A fully skilled ninja he was not but his climbing skills made it easy for him to get to spots Kana would have trouble getting to. To add to it, seeking was very easy for him. Yet Kana would meet the challenge despite knowing it'd frustrate her. She'd been catching on lately, challenging Hanzo to do better to keep her on her toes.

Deciding he'd suggest hide and seek Hanzo grabbed a book and waited for her to arrive. He'd finished almost ten pages when the doorbell rang. Quickly he closed the book and left it on his bed. Fast as possible go Hanzo hurried over to the door and opened it, as expected on the other side waited his friend. Grinning happy he greeted her, "Took you long enough! I managed to finish my chores before you arrived slow poke!"

Kana put her hands on her hips, pretending to be insulted by his teasing, "I have chores too you know!"

"I still managed to finish my first!" Hanzo retorted keeping his teasing tone and grin.

"That's because you wake up so early! Of course you finish first!" Kana pointed out, though she sounded annoyed a playful smirk was on her lips. The girl enjoyed the banter she and her friend would exchange on such occasions. He was a welcomed challenge.

Hanzo shrugged, "I'm an early bird." He replied before a brief chuckle, the boy looked back to the girl waiting for her come back.

"Well it explains why you're so grumpy all the time." Kana commented, not skipping a beat, when Hanzo stopped and looked at her she added, "You're not getting enough sleep."

The boy looked at her indignantly, huffing, "I am not grumpy!"

"Yes you are!" Kana giggled before moving the conversation along, "Come on, you need to stop standing in the door way." Hanzo blinked realizing he'd done it again. Kana smiled and picked something up, "I brought a ball for us to play with today."

There went his thought about playing hide and seek, but it didn't bother Hanzo too much they could always play it if they got bored with the ball. He smiled to her, "Alright," turning his head he called to his father, "Father I'm going to go play with Kana!"

"Alright! Stay safe!" His father called back from his place in the living room, having finished his cleaning as well.

Hanzo said good-bye to his father and shut the door, after locking it he ran after Kana. The two ran through the woods. Going to their usual spot, a clearing a short walk away from the neighborhood. Here they weren't bothered too much by anyone, the air was cool and there was a nice breeze on most days. Hanzo had pointed out the area to her a one of their earlier get meetings. He had said he'd often come to the area to get away from things. Now instead of a place to hide it'd become a play for him to hang out with his friend.

"Katsuro is coming over?" Kana asked as she kicked the ball to Hanzo who caught it with his foot. For now they were just messing around, kicking the ball around and chasing after it.

"Yeah, sometime before or after his birthday," Hanzo answered, repeating what his other friend had said to him, "He didn't decide when yet, just wanted me to ask my Dad if it'd be okay."

"Tell me when he comes over!" Kana said excitedly. Suddenly Hanzo kicked the ball hard sending it speeding past her. Running after her orange ball the girl yelled, "Hanzo! You jerk!"

Hanzo laughed as she chased after the round object, "You should be used to it now Kana!"

"Doesn't mean I like it." Kana retorted with a huff, carrying the ball back in her hands. Putting the ball down in the green grass she narrowed her eyes at her friend. Hanzo quickly knew a challenge was about to come. Smirking a little she reeled her leg back readying to kick the ball hard, "My turn then!" With that she gave the ball the hardest kick she could manage.

The ball however, did not go speeding across the clearing like she had plan and instead went flying up into the air. A quiet "whoops" escaped her mouth as she watched her toy go sailing through the air. Kana blinked her brown eyes as she spotted Hanzo go running after it. He wasn't planning to, no he couldn't be, but he did. The amber eyed boy jumped up and caught the ball midair, leaving Kana staring at the feet he'd just accomplished.

Landing on his feet Hanzo looked at her with a big grin on his face. Defeated Kana slumped her shoulders and sighed, "Okay you win."

Hanzo chuckled and passed the ball back to his friend. Kana caught the ball and looked it over a moment, dusting off stray grass that had stuck to it. She hummed a moment before saying, "You haven't come over to my house have you?"

"No, I haven't." Hanzo answered as he walked over to his friend. The boy had a feeling they wouldn't be playing around with the ball now. For a while Kana seemed to be in thought so Hanzo stayed quiet and waited for her to finish thinking.

Turning her brown eyes to her friends she looked at him thoughtfully, "You think your Dad will let you come over to my house? Just for a bit."

Unsure Hanzo shrugged, "I don't know. We could ask. He knows where you live, but would your parents be okay with it?"

"Maybe." Kana answered before brightening, "I know. I'll call them from your house if your Dad says that it's okay!"

Happy at the chance to go and see his friend's house Hanzo nodded excitedly, "Okay! Let's go!" No sooner than that was said the two kids raced off back to the Hasashi house.

Quickly as he could managed Hanzo unlocked the door and rushed into the living room giving his father a surprise, "Hanzo, that was fast are you already done playing?" He questioned, his confusion was evident. Seeing Kana come in right behind him he was more bewildered why they were both in such a rush.

Catching his breath from their quick run to his home Hanzo briskly says, "Father, would it be okay if I go to Kana's home for a little while?"

Now he understood why they hurried back so quickly. Still as a father he had to think this through. Their home wasn't far, and what he had seen of the family he'd seen nothing that set of red flags. He also knew their phone number, having gotten it from Kana in case of emergencies. Having no issues Oda nodded to his son, "If they say that it's okay."

Hanzo nodded eagerly, "Thank you Father!"

Oda chuckled, despite him saying "if Kana's parent said it was okay" his son was too excited to care. He hoped the other parent's would be alright with it. It'd hurt to see his son get disappointed, he never asked for much.

"Can I use your phone to call them?" Kana asked politely as she pointed to the home phone sitting on a side table next to the couch. Oda nodded readily, the little girl dialed the number and waited patiently for her parents to pick up. When she heard the sound of the other end picking up she perked, "Hey Mom it's me."

A pause, "Yes I'm fine. I'm over at Hanzo's house, yes I'm having fun! I was wondering if he could come over to play for a while." Another short pause, she nodded her head, "Yes his Dad said it'd be okay." A bright excited smile formed on her face, "Okay, I'll ask," Kana turned her head to Oda, "She wanted know if you'll come over for lunch with us."

Oda blinked, surprised by the offer, he looked at his son who of course was looking at him with big, bright pleading eyes. Turning his attention back to Kana, who had a similar look on her face, he nodded with a warm smile, "I don't see why not. Yes, we'll take the offer."

Kana quickly turned back to the phone, "He said yes! We'll be right over. Love you, see you soon." She made a kiss into the phone and hung up.

Getting up from the couch Oda headed into the hall, "Let me get ready real quick and then we can go." The two kids said okay and he left for his room.

Hanzo looked to Kana who was sitting on the couch waiting, he arched a brow at her, "What was with the kissy noise?"

"I was blowing a kiss to Mom." Kana answered normally, kicking her feet as she sat on the worn couch.

"Over the phone?" Hanzo asked questioningly as he pointed to the grey device sitting on the side table.

"Yeah it's just something we do." Kana answered, pursing her lips at his blunt questioning.

"Just asking." Hanzo replied as he shrugged, "Never seen anyone do that before."

Kana blinked thinking of how it started, "Well, my Mom did it once and we've done I've done it since. I never really thought about why, I guess it's just to show we love each other."

After thinking about it for a bit Hanzo nodded in agreement, "Makes sense." He turned his head as his father came back into the room. Excited that he was going to not only get to go over to Kana's house, but also eat lunch with her Hanzo hurried over to his father, "Are we going now?" He piped.

"Yes we are," Oda answered as he opened the door and motioned for them to go ahead, "move along you two."

It took no further encouragement to get the two children to hurry out the door. Once the home was locked up Oda followed behind them, at a casual pace but fast enough that he kept the two running children in his sight. It didn't take long for them to reach Kana's home, it wasa nice normal looking home. Front lawn was clean, grass well groomed, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Walking up the front pavement Oda knocked on the front door and was soon greeted by a young woman in her mid-twenties, "Hello Mrs. Miyashiro."

"Hello Mr. Hasashi, come right in." Kana's mother greeted before allowing them in. The group removed their shoes and headed inside. The interior of the home was nicely clean and had a nice friendly air to it. Though it didn't seem many came over by how undisturbed it looked. There was a nice blend of modern and traditional styles in the living room alone from the furniture to the decorations. It was easy for Hanzo to see that Kana's parents made more money than his father, the living room alone was more impressive than his home.

"You must be Hanzo." Hanzo turned his head to Kana's mother when he heard her speaking to him. The woman was looking down at him with a smile on her face, he nodded to her unsure of what to make of her yet. She smiled at him again before looking to her daughter, "You two can run upstairs and play. There's still plenty of time before lunch."

"Okay!" Kana exclaimed. Hanzo looked to his father, who nodded, before following Kana upstairs. More than excited to show her room to her best friend Kana hurried over to the door of her room. Stopping suddenly she looked back to Hanzo, whom nearly bumped into her, she pulled her head back a bit surprised for a moment. This was forgotten almost instantly once Kana opened the door to her room.

Hanzo watched as Kana opened the white door open and his eyes went wide by all the stuff in her room. It was a typical child's room, toys, books and dolls were very present in the room. Seeing that this was a girl's room was also very apparent but despite that it was not decked out completely in pink. The color was still present yes but not over bearing. Kana watched quietly as Hanzo walked into her room, inwardly waiting for his opinion with all the patience to be expected of a young child.

"There's so much…stuff." Hanzo managed to say as he rotated his head slowly from left to right then back. He didn't know what to say, he'd never seen a room like this, though he'd only seen his and his Father's room's before. Everywhere Hanzo looked there was something filling the space in the room. Even the open center floor had things lying around. Briefly he thought Kana needed to pick up, but didn't voice this.

It took a moment for Kana to respond to this, that wasn't what she expected her friend to say, "Yeah, I do have more stuff huh?"

The amber eyed boy turned his head to her, feeling he'd insulted her somehow, "its fine just, well, different." Hanzo paused not sure if that was what he meant to say, "I guess." He added, deciding it wasn't important Hanzo shrugged it off, "So, now what?"

Kana brightened right up and scurried across her room to some of her play things. Before Hanzo knew it he was introduced to several of Kana's toys. The boy could only nod his head as he met each toy. Suddenly Hanzo didn't know what to make of his friend for having so many stuffed animals, dolls and toys, but at the same time he didn't want to tell her to stop. Hanzo could only endure meeting each fuzzy, stuffed friend. Hopefully.

* * *

Downstairs Mrs. Miyashiro led Mr. Hasashi to the kitchen table there they both sat down across from each other. Oda admired the well-polished wooden table for a moment before looking across at his host. The woman had her black hair in a bun, with two hair striped hair chopsticks at the center. She was modestly dressed, blouse, pants, slippers, and some jewelry but nothing overly ornate. Mrs. Miyashiro seemed to have a bit of makeup on but not much, likely had put it on before they arrived. Oda blinked out of his quick examination, a habit he had picked up from his past work. He had always preferred knowing a bit about his targets before killing them, a way of preparing himself. Every now and then he'd find himself inspecting people, sometimes out of boredom otherwise out of habit. He couldn't find out finite details but he could get the just of things. From what he could tell Kana's mother liked to be presentable but not too showy, a humble person.

"It's nice to finally get to sit down and talk with you Mr. Hasashi." Mrs. Miyashiro said gently to the man across the table.

"Please, call me Oda. Our children are on friendly terms, we should be as well." The older adult suggested as he glanced about the room. He couldn't help but feel a little envious of them, even though they were just an average family. During his work for the Shirai Ryu he'd seen much wealthier homes, a few were like modern day palaces which despite their grandeur were not own by royalty. Turning his gaze back to Kana's mother he says, "I must say your home is very nice."

"Thank you, and my name is Risa," Mrs. Miyashiro answered, she seemed to half for a moment as if distracted by something. Mr. Hasashi arched a brow to this, but had a feeling he knew what it was about. Sure enough she raised a hand and pointed to her own eyes but meant his, "I couldn't help but notice your eye color."

Used to it Oda calmly answered, "Its amber, a rare gene that runs in our family. My son got it from me and my late wife carried the gene."

"I see…" Risa was silent a moment, the words "late wife" finally hitting her, she frowned sympathetically, "I'm sorry to hear about your wife…"

Oda held a hand up signaling it was alright, though his heart still ached over the loss, "No it's alright, it has been years since her passing," He cleared his throat, "but please let us talk about something else." Risa nodded in understanding, Oda glanced to the entrance of the dining room, "May I ask where your husband is? He still working?"

"Yes, but he'll be arriving soon." Risa answered, she smiled hearing some commotion coming from upstairs, "As much as it worried us when she wandered off on our first day moving here. I'm happy she made a good friend right away. Kana was very upset about moving."

"I'm glad as well, Hanzo…" His voice drifted off a little, the woman across from him perked wondering what had brought this, "has never been very social in the past and it had worried me."

Risa chuckled a little, "Yes, Kana has said some things that say he's a bit rough around the edges when dealing with others, but he seems, from what I've heard, open enough with Kana."

Hanzo's father smiled at the thought, "Yes, he does open up more to her." He chuckled a little, "Though at times I'm surprised she can stand his attitude, he still is rather blunt about things and can be a bit rude."

"Aren't most boys at one point or another?" Risa commented jokingly with an amused smile on her lips as she pointed to Oda.

The older man looked at her a moment as if challenged then broke into a grin, chuckling, "I'm afraid I was guilty of such behavior at a much younger age." His admittance cause laughter from his host for the evening, rousing more from him as well.

* * *

Upstairs Hanzo was still listening to names and Kana was too excited to notice. By now the boy had sort of filtered out the names, some still got through-ones he found funny, otherwise he didn't catch them at all. Then he was suddenly met face to face with a brown, fuzzy, cute eyed teddy bear. Hanzo froze up at the sight, but subtly enough that Kana didn't notice.

"And this is Ami." Kana said introducing her teddy bear friend to her best friend, she blinked noticing the wide eyed stare Hanzo was giving the doll. It looked like he'd seen a ghost. Kana was about to ask what was wrong when the boy suddenly smacked the doll. Looking miffed the girl snapped, "Hey! What was that for?"

To her surprise Hanzo had a very seething look on his face as he crossed his arms and looked away, "I hate teddy bears…" He muttered to himself, leaving Kana looking stumped. Hanzo seemed very serious about what he said but,

"Who doesn't like teddy bears?" Kana blurted out looking at her friend in a very stunned manner, never in her life had she met anyone who only disliked teddy bears. They were adorable, fuzzy stuffed animals, how could anyone hate that?

Hanzo glanced at his friend briefly before answering, "I just do, okay?"

Wanting more of an answer Kana scooted closer, now getting curious about her friend's dislike, "Come on Hanzo, you can tell me."

The amber eyed boy looked at the girl a moment, deciding if he should or not. Finding no reason not to and adding the fact he'd rudely just smacked her toy across the room Hanzo decided he owed her an explanation at least. Hanzo sighed, "Okay, but don't laugh…" Kana nodded showing that she wouldn't laugh, "I saw a movie last year. You know the one about the killer doll?"

Kana thought back for a moment, her eye brightened recalling seeing a poster for the movie, "Oh! Yeah, but my parents don't let me watch movies like that. The bad guy was a killer bear doll right?"

"Yeah…" Hanzo grumbled to himself, "I begged Father to go see it. I thought it'd be a stupid movie, but you know funny stupid. Father decided he'd let me, since he'd have to go with me anyway for me to see it. It wasn't bad at first but towards the end…" The boy didn't go into detail and instead let out of noise of frustration, "it just bothers me so much! And now I can't stand the sight of teddy bears…"

The girl sitting in front of him stared at her friend a moment, she truly wondered what exactly was in that movie that caused him to hate bear dolls. Kana frowned, knowing her parents she probably wouldn't able to find out for years. Until she was of age to see an R rated movie Kana knew the reason for Hanzo's hatred towards bears would be a mystery.

"Well?"

Kana blinked back to what was going on and realized Hanzo was waiting for a response from her, "What?"

"You're not going to laugh?" Hanzo questioned looking a little surprised, Kana shook her head confirming his thoughts.

"Nope, I promised I wouldn't." Kana replied, a nice reassuring smile on her face that caused Hanzo to form a slight smile of his own. With a small grin Kana sat on her knees, "How about I tell you something I don't like." Hanzo was going to say sure when she added, "but only if you don't laugh."

Hanzo laughed realizing she reversed the situation on purpose and nodded. Once he signed that he promised Kana shifted where she was kneeling and grinned sheepishly, "I don't like frogs."

"Really?" Hanzo asked tilting his head to the side, he didn't care much for them either but he didn't particularly dislike them.

"Yes!" Kana exclaimed, tongue sticking out in disgust she shivered thinking of them, "They're slimy and icky and the eat flies all the time! That's disgusting!"

"I guess so." Hanzo answered blinking a couple of times. That still didn't sound terrible but then again he hated stuff bear dolls so he didn't really judge to hardly.

* * *

The sound of the front door unlocking alerted the two adults that the third had finally arrived, so the two got up from the table to greet Kana's father. With a click the door opened quietly and a man in a neat, fitted suit came inside. He looked up at the tall older man that was behind his wife, his eyes blink behind his rectangular glasses, and he held out his hand, "Hello, Mr. Hasashi, it's nice to see you again."

"Oda." Hanzo's father said taking his hand and shaking it, noting how tired the man sounded, "Long shift?"

"Isao, and yes, I went in early to finish work I'd been falling behind on…" Isao explained, shaking Oda's hand in turn before shutting and locking the front door. He looked to his wife, "The children upstairs playing?"

"By the sounds of it they're mostly chatting, but yes their upstairs playing." Risa answered looking up the stairs for a moment, she smiled to her husband, "They been keeping busy since they arrived."

"That's good." The husband was too tired to sound enthused so it came off more dull than intended. His work was just paper work but after hours it really drained the mind, and sucked out any ability to show interest. Isao had almost bored to tears during the process of filling out sheet after sheet of paper or after the second report. Right now all he wanted to do was eat, shower then collapse on his bed.

"When's lunch?" Isao asked as he took his shoes off and put on his house slippers.

"I'm going to start it now. Shouldn't take too long. Half an hour at the most." His wife answered as she headed into the kitchen.

"Let me help you with that." Oda requested following after the woman, she stopped and looked at him surprised.

"You can cook?" Risa asked looking him over, "You don't seem like the type." Realizing that could be taken badly she honestly added, "No offense."

"No one taken," Oda replied the comment not even phasing him, "So may I?"

"I'd appreciate that." Kana's mother answered with a grateful nod. She looked to her husband, worry appearing on her face, "You go sit down. I'll call you went its ready." Her husband only nodded before walking into the living room, a soft thump was heard when he slumped down onto the couch. Risa sighed and went into the kitchen, Oda tailing behind her.

"Is it always like this?" Oda answered once they were in the kitchen, he washed his hands as Risa answered.

"Sometimes, his boss likes to make things tough for him." She answered while gathering the things she was going to use to make lunch.

"I see…" Oda said quietly, as much as he had his own thoughts about that he decided to keep it to himself. He didn't know these people enough to voice his judgments, for a he knew Isao had a good reason for staying in a job situation like that.

With the help of a second pair of hands Risa and Oda had the lunch finished in almost half the time that had been expected. The two adults set the table before Kana's mother headed over to the stairs to the second floor, "Kana! Hanzo! Lunch is ready!"

"Coming Mom!" Kana yelled from her room. As she and her friend headed down the stairs Kana continued their previous conversation, "So you hate eating squid and octopus?"

Hanzo nodded, "Yeah, it feels like eating rubber and it doesn't even have a taste!" He yelled, arms waving out at his sides which thankfully he was walking a step behind Kana.

"I love squid and octopus!" Kana exclaimed suddenly causing Hanzo to give pause before looking at her in shock. She nodded, "Yeah, I like that it's rubbery," she pointed at him, "and it does have a taste!"

"Does not." Hanzo retorted brow scrunched.

"Does too!"

"Okay you two, no yelling. Kana your father just got home from work he's tired." Risa said in a gentle yet firm mothering tone.

"Sorry Mom, I'll be quieter." Kana said softly as she looked down at her shoes, feeling guilty for possibly bothering her father. She knew how he was after long days at work and considering he hadn't been around when she woke up Kana knew it had definitely been a long day for him.

"Same goes for you Hanzo." Oda said from the dining room entrance.

Hanzo bowed his head, "Yes father."

"Okay, come on you two, time to eat." The mother said gently as motioned for them to take their seats. At the table Isao was already sitting down, a cup of coffee in front of him. He looked more awake thanks to the caffeinated drink but he still looked worn, faint dark rings around his eyes.

After pulling up a spare chair for Oda to sit on the group of five was ready to eat. The meal was nothing special slightly spicy curry with rice. The group at quietly other than brief chatter between Hanzo and Kana. Oda was quietly enjoying the company, it was nice to be around other people for a change. He hadn't got to talk to Isao much, allowing the man to rest after a long day of work, but the company was a good change of pace. Oda could tell Hanzo was enjoying coming over to his friends place. He glanced at Risa, she was a nice person she'd be a good mother figure in Hanzo's life. Inwardly he sighed, wishing his late wife could have been the one to fill that role, but life had other plans.

Before long the lunch was over, Kana quickly worried that meant Hanzo would have to go but she didn't want him to leave just yet. Standing in front of her Mom as they put the dishes in the dishwasher to clean later she looked up at her, "Mom, can Hanzo stay over a little longer?"

"It's up to them Kana, I don't have a problem with it. Your father is relaxing in his study so I don't think he'll mind so long as you keep it quiet." Risa said gently as she put the last of the dirty plates in the dishwasher. Closing the dishwasher she set it to a normal wash.

"Okay I'll go ask." Kana said quietly, her mother giggled at how soft she was speaking in order to not bother her father. He wouldn't be able to hear her if she talked normally, the door to his study was shut tight, yet she was whispering like he was in the room with them.

After asking Oda said they could stay for a while longer but then they'd have to leave so Hanzo could get his training in for the day. Accepting this Kana led Hanzo back up stairs to her room. Oda stayed in the living room watching television and chatting with Risa about what they were watching. Back in Kana's room the girl ran over to where a small pile of her drawings were and was going through them. Hanzo waited quietly, sitting on the soft carpeted floor, to see what she was up to, spotting the teddy bear he'd smacked earlier still lying against the wall he gave it a glare. He still didn't like that thing.

Seeing Kana heading back towards him he looked back to her, she was holding up a drawing of something. He raised a brow it was a heart and a dog was standing on top of it. Hanzo blinked a couple of times trying to figure out the significance of the picture. Deciding he should say something over just staying Hanzo says, "Nice picture."

"I'm making a clay figure of this in art class." Kana explained as she pointed a finger at the dog standing on the heart. Getting it now Hanzo nodded as she went on, "It's for my Dad. He's been working hard lately…and I wanted to do something nice for him."

"Oh." Hanzo said, finding his words missing, he hadn't expected her to sound so sad all of a sudden. Wanting to reassure Hanzo put on a smile, "I'm sure he'll like it. He likes dogs, right?"

Kana perked up a bit hearing the question and nodded, "Yeah, this is his favorite type of dog."

"What kind is it?" Hanzo asked as he looked closely at the dog Kana had drawn. It was black and white, but didn't look like a Dalmatian or any type of dog he knew of.

"It's a Boston Bulldog." Kana explained, she held her ground about a foot or so off the floor, "They're small and tiny tails." She giggled pointing to the stub of a tail at the end of the dog.

The amber eyed boy chuckled briefly, "It is small." He looked at his friend curiously, "So when do you think you'll have it finished?"

"Pretty soon!" Kana explained happily, her eyes went wide and she looked around. Holding a finger in front of her mouth she quietly said, "Oops, I almost forgot we have to be quiet. Dad's relaxing right now." Hanzo nodded silently in reply. Kana looked at her picture proudly, then she remembered something while looking at it. She looked back to her friend, "Hey, have you figured out what you're going to get Katsuro?"

Hanzo's amber eyes grew big, he'd forgotten about that, he shook his head, "No, I'll have to ask him when we go back to school."

Kana held her picture close to her, looking worried, "I don't know what he'd want for his birthday. I don't know what to get him either."

"I'll ask him what he likes then tell you at lunch." Hanzo decided as they sat on the floor of Kana's room.

"Thanks Hanzo." Kana said appreciatively, she gave her friend a warm hug to further show her thanks.

Blushing faintly, caught off guard by the hug, he looked away and nudged at her off gently, "It's no problem."

* * *

**Chapter 5! Milestone achieved!**

**Chapter came out longer than planned, which I'm happy with. I feel I put more effort into this one. Trying to do better :) This chapter would have been up a bit sooner but I went back and reviewed it. I need to start doing that. **

**Originally I was going to have Kana's parents be strict, to the point of being unfair but I felt that was unnecessary.**

**Yes, Hanzo's hatred for teddy bears is a thing in this, I couldn't resist. As for the movie he mentions...think Chucky. Someone in my family couldn't stand dolls after that movie. Don't recall who, but it was the inspiration for that part. As for the squid and octopus things, I don't know it popped into my head and stuck.**

**Please follow/favorite and review! I love input :)**


	6. Chapter 6 Visitor

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 6: Visitor**

Eventually the time to leave the Miyashiro home came, by then both Kana and Hanzo were satisfied with their time playing together. As father and son left the two friends waved good-bye to each other, smiling bright and happy knowing they'd see each other soon. Oda bid his farewell to Kana's parents, Risa and Isao and thanked them for the meal. He offering to return it later, which was put into consideration. Oda had to admit it had been an enjoyable trip outside their home, it made him consider going out more they hadn't been doing that very much lately.

Opening the door to their home his son ran inside hurrying over to the living room. Oda smiled to himself as he shut the door, Katsuro had told him about some show and his son had gotten hooked after watching an episode. Oda watched it with him to make sure there wasn't any bad content. Far as he could tell it was just a team based action show. A monster would show up the team would battle it, wash rinse repeat. It was entertaining to say the least. Nothing harmful he could pick out, bit too much sugar coating on death at times though.

It was getting late though, his son needed to a bath. Oda decided he'd tell him to take one the show was over. Putting the keys away Oda stopped cold, he looked around, there was something off. He spotted something on the long, thin table that was in the hall. Oda tensed and walked into the living room, Hanzo was sitting cross legged on the floor watching the TV.

Oda took a deep breath, "Hanzo," his son turned his head to him, "it's time for you to go take a bath."

Hanzo looked surprised, he'd known he was going to take a bath soon but the boy had assumed his father was to tell him _after_ the cartoon. It wasn't like he watched TV a lot, in fact this was the only thing he'd really watch lately. Hanzo frowned sadly, maybe he could just ask, "Can't I take one after I watch this?"

"No." His father said sternly, making Hanzo flinch slightly. Oda pointed towards the bathroom, "Go take one now, the show will come on again tomorrow."

His son sat rigidly, he didn't understand why his father was so upset all of a sudden, it was worrying, "But this is a new episode, I don't know when it'll come back on!" Hanzo reasoned, he himself getting upset now.

"Don't argue with me Hanzo." Oda warned firmly, arms crossed showing his son he wasn't about to give in to anything he said. Hanzo's mouth hung open, he wanted to say something but he knew from the look his father was giving him that there was no point in arguing. He looked at the ground trying figure out why he was upset. Nothing he thought seemed like a suitable answer, and he didn't _think_ he'd done anything wrong to upset him.

Getting to his feet he turned off the TV, "Yes Father." Hanzo said quietly as he walked out of the room, avoiding his father's eyes in fear of upsetting him further.

Oda watched his son go down the hall to his room in order to fetch his pajamas. Hearing the door open he let his expression fall, he'd apologize to his son later. Right now though he just needed him to be somewhere else. The amber eyed father waited until he heard the sound of running water to head back into the hall. Oda picked up what he'd seen on the hall table before heading into dining room.

He didn't bother questioning the person he found sitting at the table. There was no point in asking how he had gotten in there. Oda could lock every door and window they had and it'd be no use. There was little use trying to keep a Shirai Ryu out, they were trained to be able to get into any place in order to kill their target. Oda didn't think the clan member was after his son, but he didn't want him to be anywhere near one, in fear he'd inspire him to join. Oda looked the Shirai Ryu over, he didn't recognize this one, but there was some familiarity.

The former Shirai Ryu took one last look at the item he was holding before he tossed it over to the assassin, it was the crest of the clan, "I believe this is yours." The clan member effortlessly caught it. Before the ninja could say anything Oda grounded out, "Now leave."

The Shirai Ryu only looked partly confused by his reaction before he chuckled lightly shaking his head, "Your rather unwelcoming Master Hasashi." He said rising out of his chair.

Judging by the voice Oda guessed the man was young late teens to early twenties. Oda narrowed his eyes at the title, "I'm no master to you."

"Yes, because you left the clan," the Shirai Ryu agent agreed, laxly nodding his head as he moved over to the side of the table. He looked at Oda with sky blue eyes, there was respect and admiration to the man, for reasons Oda didn't appreciate, "but you could be if you returned to the clan."

Oda Hasashi's response was quick, "That's not going to happen."

Disappointment drifted through the agent's eyes, he sighed, nodding to make himself accept the words, "And we won't make you, but my Father wishes for your return."

Oda furrowed his brows wondering who his father was, it'd explain why the young man was becoming so familiar. He waited patiently for the ninja to finish, keeping his ears alert for signs his son was finishing his bath.

"To be honest the clan wants you to return," the Shirai Ryu assassin continued, "but my father sings praises of you almost every day. You were a good teacher to him, he looked up to you and still does."

The former Shirai Ryu's eyes widened a fraction before shifting back to a narrow gaze, "Your Kusunoki Masashige's son…" The young man nodded. Oda hummed thoughtfully, he'd taught his Father, who was a little over ten years younger than him. With his skill Oda had been able to teach younger than most, however, he gave his student to another believing he wasn't ready yet. Kusunoki would still often come to him for advice and short lessons though. It was easy for him to tell the man admired him, and even showed him his son shortly after his birth. Oda had been on good terms with him likewise and was honored to be shown his child. Now that boy was standing before him, and it seemed Kusunoki had passed on his admiration. That caused mixed feelings in the former assassin, he couldn't pin how he felt.

"I'm Rapha," the son of Kusunoki Masashige introduced, placing a hand on his heart while bowing in respect, "We've meet before. Do you remember me?"

"It's hard to forget a child one's been introduced to as an infant." Oda replied, his tone slightly softer.

Rapha stood upright, "I'm honored you remember me Hasashi."

Oda frowned deeply, now he knew how he felt about that, it felt wrong, "You honor me for reasons I don't look proudly upon."

The young assassin, knitted his brows in perplexed confusion, almost hurt in a way, "You were the greatest ninja in our clan during your time as a member. You accomplished many great things, the clan looked to you as our champion. Why do you look badly upon that?"

"Because ninja, assassin, and Shirai Ryu are just other ways of saying murder, a killer…" Oda's voice grew more sober as he went on, old pain showing itself again to his heart, "and my actions are what may have well caused my wife's death...be it through revenge or through some sort of karma. I paid for the lives I took with her life."

Oda took a deep breath, closing his eyes to keep himself from tear up, but he could still feel the sadness against the inside of his eyelids. This wasn't uncommon when he thought of his wife. His wife found dying lying in a street of the nearby city. Oda had hurried as quickly as he could, it was heartbreaking to see her in such a state. He'd asked her what happened, but she was slipping. With her last breath she asked their son didn't grow up to be a Shirai Ryu. On his knees sobbing his heart out Oda promised her spirit that as long as he lived Hanzo wouldn't become a Shirai Ryu. Shortly after he took their son, still a baby, and left the clan. Ever since then it's been painful to think of his wife. He tried not to think of her in that state, Oda tried to think of her when she was alive and happy but that only caused him to cry. It was worse when Hanzo caught him, he wasn't ready to tell him about what happened to his mother. Oda was forced to make something up.

The clan of course had promised to help him find who did it, but that wouldn't bring her back. Regardless he had promise her to keep their son from becoming what they had been.

Rapha stared at Oda, haplessly trying to figure out the older man's way of thinking. He knew he was upset about losing his wife, anyone would be distraught over that, but what the young assassin didn't understand was why he blamed himself. He couldn't have known his wife would die on that day. No one could have.

"What happened wasn't your fault Hasashi," Rapha reasoned, his tone calm as he tried to reassure the man he respected. When Oda didn't respond he continued, "The clan has been trying to figure out who killed your wife Tokuko," Oda flinched hearing her name, he'd only heard it in whispers to himself in recent years, hearing it aloud by another voice was almost foreign, "we haven't found out yet who it was but…"

"Tell them to stop searching." Oda's words caused Rapha to stop suddenly. He stared at him, the young Shirai Ryu couldn't believe what he said. It took him a moment to regather himself.

"W-what? Why?" Rapha said staring at the older man in shock before managing to continued, "what if a Lin Kuei had done it?"

Oda huffed dryly looking off to the side, "Don't bring my wife in this meaningless hate between the clans. You know the chance of a Lin Kuei having the guts to enter strict Shirai Ryu territory is slim to none."

"There is **always** a chance the scum will try something!" Rapha snapped, Oda turned his eyes back to the young man, his stance was getting more ridged, defensive. Typical, the hate between the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu was strong as ever. Did any of them even know why they hated each other? Other than petty territory squabbles? Both clans had enough territory to sustain them, but both wanted more. The hate survived on current members being raised to know the other was the enemy, hate was easily taught. Rapha seemed to be a perfect example of that.

"One of their dishonorable snakes cut off my father's arm! Here in Japan!" He snarled, lashing his arm out, pointing at the window to emphasize his point. Rapha snarled when Oda wasn't moved much by his declaration other than mild surprise.

"Was he killed?" Oda asked.

Rapha stopped a moment before answering, "Yes, he was captured shortly after."

"There you go then," The amber eyed father answered flatly. Then his eyes narrowed in a dangerous manner, one that caught Rapha off guard, it was a glare of warning, "don't use my wife's memory as an excuse to hunt down Lin Kuei. I want her spirit to rest, and to do that she must be let go."

"How do you know she's at rest?" Rapha inquired, the anger in his voice was still present but much more subdued.

Oda's words came in a sad yet sure tone, "I would know."

A few moments of silence came between Oda and Kusunoki Masashige's son. Rapha looked at the former Shirai Ryu, anger fading from his eyes into a more somber look. He let out a sigh before holding out the clan crest to him, "Very well, I'll the clan of your wish, just give your son Hanzo this."

Flicking his eyes down to the small medallion Oda's answer was one word, "No."

A growl of frustration came from the clan member, "Why not? We're not going to force him to join we just-"

"There's forcing and then there's _influencing_. I'll allow neither." Oda answered sternly, looking Rapha straight the eye. To him the crest may as well be a promotional pin with the words "Join the Shirai Ryu" written along the rim. There was no way he'd let such an item plant thoughts in his son's head.

"We just want him to know of his heritage!" Rapha snapped in frustration, as much as he respected this man his stubbornness was getting on his nerves.

"He knows of the clan, I've hid nothing from him." Oda stated firmly before narrowing his eyes further at the Shirai Ryu, he clenched his fists readying himself to fight if need be, "Now **leave** or I'll **make you leave**."

Rapha felt himself go tense, he was uncertain if he could beat the man. Oda was older yes but by the looks of him he hadn't gotten lazy there was still muscle in his build, it could be seen even with his clothing covering it. Shirai Ryu instinct told him to attack the aggressor, the Shirai Ryu **never** back down from a fight. That was something Rapha had been taught since he was young. Oda, however, had _been_ a Shirai Ryu, and a respected one at that.

The Shirai Ryu assassin relaxed himself, causing Oda to pause, "I cannot and will not attack you Hasashi. I am not allowed to. I-" Rapha stopped talking blue eyes fixed on something at the doorway.

Oda stiffened further, he'd stopped listening for his son's progress, and he'd always been one to bathe quickly. It was also very likely he'd heard the yelling and jumped out to see what was going on. Quickly Oda turned his head around, and there was his son staring up at him with uncertain, fearful eyes. Turning back around Oda was going to tell Rapha once more to leave, but the Shirai Ryu was no longer standing where he'd once been. Oda cursed himself for taking his eye off the assassin, he'd left him an opening.

Finding Rapha was just past his side he wiped around grabbing him by his black sleeve. The Shirai Ryu didn't flinch, bound and determined he yanked back at the last second. When Oda grabbed his sleeve he didn't grip enough to make it secure, Rapha easily slipped out from his flimsy hold. Quickening his step slightly Rapha made it over to Hanzo in a few strides, Oda staring behind him in shock.

Hanzo stared up at the assassin as he knelt down in front of him, he uncertain, fearful yet in awe of what he'd saw. He'd always been told about the clan his father had worked for and of the members in it. Yet nothing his father described seemed to match the person in front of him. The black and yellow uniform was present yet, but Hanzo didn't feel like he was in danger. The ninja didn't seem like he was about to hurt him. The look in his eyes, however, was unsettling. There was something in it that he'd seen in his father's eyes before, the willingness to kill another person.

The eyes of a murder his father had called it. He said anyone that had killed another person had them. He had them, his had just dulled in the past years he'd gone without killing but it was still there. The eyes were unnerving, but he still didn't feel like he was in danger.

"Hello, you must be Hanzo, correct?" Rapha said softly, in the manner an adult would speak to a child.

Hanzo blinked from his conflicting feelings, clutching onto the doorway to relieve nervousness. The amber eyed boy glanced at his father who was glaring at the man. Hanzo got a pretty good feeling he wasn't supposed to talk to this man. So he merely nodded in reply.

Rapha noticed his glance past his shoulders but was undeterred, "Do you know what I am?"

Hanzo merely nodded again.

"That's good." Rapha said in a sincere manner before offering the clan crest to the boy. Hanzo looked down at the bronze, black and gold crest with interested. Seeing the glimmer of curiosity in his bronze eyes Rapha smirked and placed it in one of his hands. As Hanzo quietly looked it over Rapha ruffled his black hair slightly, just enough to annoy Hanzo slightly, "A gift from the clan."

The amber eyed boy looked up at the ninja, surprised, then back down at the crest inspecting it closely. The clan wanted him to have this? Why? They'd never sent anything to him before, and it wasn't his birthday yet.

"Hanzo go to your room **now**!"

Hanzo jumped at sudden forcefully, angry, sound of his father's voice. Warily he looked up at his father, he looked very upset. His father was glaring daggers at the Shirai Ryu. Faintly Hanzo was glad his father was upset with him.

"Y-yes, father." Oda's son said quickly turning to leave, the ninja grabbed him by the shoulder holding him back.

"Keep that with you, it's _belongs_ to _you_." Rapha whispered to the boy, Hanzo stared at him and when he let go of his shoulder the boy hurried to his room. The ninja smirked to himself, he'd accomplished what he needed to.

Suddenly he was grabbed from behind with a strong grip, the next thing Rapha knew he was slammed up against a wall. The action had happened so quickly the assassin was left dazed. Gaze clearing he was met with the sight of Oda baring his teeth at him. Rapha was impressed, the man had dragged him from the dining room to the hallway. Albeit that wasn't very far but he'd done it dizzyingly fast.

"How _**dare**_ you, do as you please with my son **right**in front of me!" Oda snarled, eyes brimming with anger. His grip on the young assassin's shoulder tightened to the point where it made Rapha flinch. It felt like claws were digging in through his leather armor!

"I was merely doing as I was told to." Rapha managed through the cringing pain coming from his shoulders.

Another snarl came from the older man, "I don't **care** what you were told to do! Hanzo is **my** son! Not the clans!" He learned his face in closer to the masked ninja, his voice a deep growl, "Tell the clan to **stay away** from my son. I will send the next I catch near my son back beaten and bloody. Understand?"

"The clan means your son no harm Hasashi."

Oda growled at the ninja before dragging him over to the front door, Rapha didn't put up much of a struggle allowing himself to be pulled along. Putting the young man in a headlock with one arm he opened the door before roughly tossing him through the open door. Rapha sailed higher and faster than he expected and went tumbling into the ground. With the training instilled in him he managed to pull himself into a ball. Stopping himself after a few tumbles he looked back to the Hasashi home in time to see the door slammed shut.

Rapha looked at the door a moment before pulling himself up to his feet. He glanced himself over and saw no real damage was done. Seemed he was a little scuffed up, no big deal. Rapha sighed to himself, that hadn't been the meeting he'd imagined but nothing could be done. He'd done what he'd been sent to do, time to go. Rapha glanced around, thankfully no one was around to see him. Assured he ran into the darkened woods.

* * *

Sitting on his bed Hanzo turned the crest over, it was rather sizeable, most likely meant for an adult. The child traced the bronze and golden Scorpion with his finger. The pincers and stinger were gold while the rest was a shiny bronze, or was it copper? He was never good at remembering which was which. It weighed more than he thought it should too. Flipping it over onto the back he saw the kanji for his first and last name engraved into it. The Shirai Ryu had been telling the truth, this **was** meant for him.

Supporting himself with one arm he leaned back a bit while he eyed the crest, moon light coming in from the window bouncing off its surface leaving a slivery sheen. Hanzo hummed thoughtfully, _what am I supposed to do with this_? He asked himself, bouncing the item on his hand.

Hanzo jumped on his bed when there was a sudden slam. His heartrate spiked in surprise, the boy clutched the Shirai Ryu crest fearfully. It sounded like the front door to him, and the only person he could think that did it was his own father. Hanzo swallowed nervously, he didn't understand what had gotten into his father. Ever since they came back from Kana's home he'd been acting…angry, and was getting angrier. He'd never seen him got this angry before, it worried him greatly, Hanzo wasn't sure what his father would do next.

Hearing heavy footsteps approaching his room he gulped holding the crest close to him. Hanzo knew that's why he was coming, he'd gotten angrier when the ninja gave it to him. He just didn't get why. It was a present, that's all. Why did the present upset him so much? Nothing made sense since they got home. First his father wouldn't let him watch a show, upset told him to take his bath, then the ninja showed up, then he got mad at a present, and now Hanzo knew his father was going to take it from him.

The door swung open, Hanzo held onto the crest tighter. He didn't want him to take it but shortly he'd have no choice. Hanzo didn't want to upset his father further. Just by glancing at him the amber eyed boy could tell he was still angry. Hanzo lowered his head as he approach.

His father held his hand out, "Give it to me Hanzo." Oda said sternly.

Hanzo looked at the crest, what was his father going to do with it? Throw it in the garbage, toss it into the woods? Hanzo gulped, looking away from his father.

"**Hanzo**. Give it to me." Oda repeated more firmly, holding his hand out closer to him to emphasize it.

His son looked up at him and said, "Why?"

The question was simple, yet confused, worried, and scared tones mixed in caused Oda to give pause. His son was scared because of him…Oda mentally berated himself for losing control of his temper. The Shirai Ryu showing up or not, he should have had better control. Taking a breath he calmed himself as best he could. His son noticed this and lifted his head some.

"Hanzo, I'm your father, give it to me." Oda repeated mostly. His tone was calmer but he didn't answer Hanzo's question.

"Why?" Hanzo repeated, sounding a little pleading this time. He was still confused why the gift upset him.

Oda gritted his teeth, trying to keep himself from unnecessarily snapping at his child. Hanzo had been perfectly behaved today, he didn't deserved to be punished in any manner of this he reminded himself. Keeping his voice even Oda spoke to his son carefully, "Because…I don't like you having that. You shouldn't have that, you made a promise remember?"

"Promise…?" Hanzo repeated, he furrowed his brows trying to recall a promise he made dealing with the Shirai Ryu. The boy looked down at the item, the promise he made every year finally came to memory. Hanzo still didn't get it really but now he got the idea the item would cause him to break his promise of not joining the Shirai Ryu somehow.

"Oh," He said softly before handing the Shirai Ryu crest over to his Father.

"Thank you Hanzo." The praise was soft and very thankfully but did little to cheer the boy up. Oda frowned sadly, his son was still upset about his gift getting taken away like any child would be. The father looked at the trinket he held before turning to leave the room when his son spoke up,

"What are you going to do with it?" He asked quietly, looking at crest his father held, moonlight still glimmering off the rim of it.

Oda looked back to his son, then to the item in question, "I'll keep it with the rest of my Shirai Ryu gear." He turned his amber gaze back to his son, smiling somberly, "When you're older you can have it back."

To Oda's relief this caused his son to perk up a bit, smiling he went back over to Hanzo and stroked his head, "You know I care for you right son?" His son nodded readily as his father knelt down slightly, "I do these things for a reason."

"What was the reason you were mad at me before then?" Hanzo asked, brows knit in confusion.

Knowing he meant the moment he snapped at him about the TV show Oda bit the inside of his lip, reprimanding himself for lack of control. He looked at his son apologetically, "For that Hanzo I must apologize," his son tilted his head a little, his father hadn't done this before, "I knew that the Shirai Ryu was in the house and I didn't want you near him. I got upset and snapped at you, but I wasn't mad at you. Can you forgive me?"

Hanzo's reply was to hug his father around his neck, "Of course I do Father. I just wanted to know why, that's all."

Oda pulled his son close the feeling of relief relaxing him, he held the boy for a while before pulling back and planting a kiss on his forehead, giving Hanzo a momentary surprise, "I love you son, thank you."

"I love you too Father." Hanzo said back, before giving a tired yawn to which he rubbed one of his eyes gently.

A soft chuckle slipped past Oda's lips, he blinked when he saw some dampness still in his son's hair. He guessed he'd hurriedly jumped out of his bath. Gently he rubbed his son's back, "Go and dry your hair off, then get some sleep. You've had a busy day today."

Hanzo nodded sleepily, pushing himself off his bed. His body on autopilot he left his room for the bathroom. Oda watched him walk down the hall for a while to make sure his son didn't bump into anything. Hearing the sound of the hairdryer startup he went to his own room. Pulling open his closet he looked at his gear, uniform, swords, mask, kunai, shuriken, dagger, mask and his own crest.

Oda looked down at the crest he held, turning it over he saw his son's name engraved in it. The father felt the hair on the back of his neck bristle in aggravation. Shoving the feeling away he hastily put the crest on a shelf installed into his closet, something he had constructed himself and was meant to store his gear.

Looking at his yellow mask he picked it up, he hadn't inspected it in a while. The mask was the typical hard face mask of the full fledge members. Each member wore a cloth mask until they completed training and took down a target. A sort of rite of passage. He'd managed to kill his first target without getting a scratch. Oda recalled it was a Yakuza member, the contractor had lost someone dear because of it. He recalled the face but not the name. Letting the thought drift off he looked at the mask, examining each scratch on it and recalling how a few of the deeper ones were made.

He'd fought his fair share of Lin Kuei in his time. The warriors of the clan were viscous fighters, and good at ignoring pain. It was no wonder they had "forest demons" as their clan name. Still he had bested each of the one he had face, more often than not killing those he faced. Very few Lin Kuei he faced backed off unless having reason or still being trainees, not yet full members. The thought brought another to the focus of his mind, the strange ice related deaths that stopped recently. He still wondered how those were done.

Finding no answers he turned his attention back to the mask, it had some insectoid qualities to it. Clearly inspired by the creature his codename had been, Scorpion. It was tradition for the assassins in his family to bear the title, which had been given to them for the families' skill with the chained kunai. For generations the clan had always had a "Scorpion", and all had been high ranking clan members.

Putting the mask back in its spot Oda shook his head that would end with his son. The long line of Scorpions would end with him. He shut the closet doors with the air of finality, trying to get his mind off his clan but it wasn't easy. His clan seemed to be confident that his son would join them in time, they had already made a crest for him! Did they believe it was so strong in his blood that it was fated?

The former Scorpion looked at his closet, wondering if he should get a lock for it…Oda shook his head, no he could trust his son. Rubbing his neck Oda sighed, he was feeling tired himself, "I should get some rest myself…"

* * *

**Hey guys! I was supposed to do a chapter of "Broken Chains" but. This scene, which turned chapter, called to me. I needed to get this down while the feeling was strong. So you get a chapter a little early! I explored Oda a little more, and we get to see a Shirai Ryu! I really enjoy fleshing this clan out more. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!**

**Leo: To answer you, no Hanzo isn't from feudal Japan ^^; it'd make his rivalry/hatred with Sub-Zero (both) difficult. He was born around the same time as the others, the clans just have a old fashioned look.**

**Please follow/favorite and review! I live for input!**


	7. Chapter 7 Mixed Indecision

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 7: Mixed Indecision **

"A ninja came over to your house!?" Kana yelled in shock as they sat in back yard of Hanzo's home. It was Sunday, the day before she'd ended up going out with her parents so Kana hadn't been able to come over. It had upset her that she couldn't go see her friend but there was nothing that could've been done.

The two sat on the grassy boarder of a dirt square in the center of the yard that served as a makeshift sparring ring. Hanzo had spent about as much of his life standing in that flat dirt square as he had in school, maybe even more. Whether it was hand to hand practice, sword practice or other forms of training he had learned it there in that square. Many good memories of his getting a move down, bad ones of frustration, and humiliating moment of his face meeting the dirt had been made on that spot. Soon ones of him learning how to use the chained kunai would be made too.

Hanzo looked up at the sky, past the branches and leaves of the tree growing in their back yard. The thought of what happened two days ago still left an uncertain feeling in him. He wasn't sure how to feel about it even with a day to mull it over. The following day had been rather awkward and quiet between him and his father. Oda had tried to play everything off as normal but Hanzo could still tell he was thinking of the other night. An unsaid agreement between them kept the topic off the table. The dinner table had been the worst part of the day for Hanzo, his father had tried to spark conversations but only noncommittal responses had been given. Hanzo just didn't know what to say to his father, he felt too off to answer. The lack of his friend when he had expected them hadn't helped.

"Yeah," Hanzo partly muttered, he leaned his head to the side, "Father got really angry about it. Especially when he gave me a Shirai Ryu crest…I think he _**literally**_ tossed him out of the house."

Kana blinked her brown eyes a couple of times out of the sheer shock, "Really? Why'd he do that?"

The boy next to her mulled over whether or not he should tell her. He'd never actually told her about his father being an assassin once. That would be saying that his father had killed people after all. They really didn't need that going around, his father could end up in jail and Hanzo didn't want that. It wasn't that he thought Kana would tell someone it was more so that he just had to be cautious. Mishaps happened and Hanzo had to do his best to avoid them, better safe than sorry.

"Well…" He started out gradually, turning his gaze back to her as he talked, "My father doesn't really like them…so he tossed them out. He didn't want him around me."

"Oh," Kana answered simply. She got the feeling there was more to it but at the same time she knew to leave it be. The girl looked around trying to find out what else there was to talk about. Getting another question Kana spoke up again breaking the forming silence, "What about the medallion? Your father didn't toss it out did he?"

The amber-eyed boy shook his head, "No, but he put it in his closet. He said I could have it back when I'm older."

Knitting her brows Kana tried to understand the logic behind that. How harmful could a trinket be? It didn't make sense, so she asked, "Why'd he do that?"

Hanzo's eyes drifted off, voice distant, speaking almost as if to himself, "Because I made a promise to my mother not to get involved with them…"

When the answer fell upon Kana's ear she fell silent, she could feel the magnitude of the vow weighing down on her, keeping her silent. She looked from left to right, unsure of what to do next. Trying to continue the conversation didn't seem right now, but the thick silence that was stuck between them was very uncomfortable. Kana thinned her lips in hesitation as she bit the inside of her bottom lip. Unable to find the right answer to her situation Kana was left to sitting where she was. Forced to ride out the moment until an opportunity to shift the mood presented itself.

It wasn't until several minutes later did an idea come to her, by then the thickness of the silence had waned. Even then she rubbed her arm uncomfortably, making an awkward smile Kana spoke to her friend, "Well, you kept your promise right? So there's nothing to worry about. Everything it going to be okay."

Hanzo's mood lifted enough that it was noticeable, though his tone still didn't seem so spirited, "Yeah, your right. It's just…I feel so mixed up about it."

Tilting her head Kana inquired, "What do you mean by that Hanzo?"

The boy next to her shifted where he sat trying to figure a way to put it, "I feel worried, but I don't know why. The Ninja wasn't there to hurt me but," Hanzo stiffened as he thought back as to how the man's presence made him seize up. He didn't like that feeling he didn't like it at all. Hanzo's mouth twitched, he wasn't about to admit how he felt, "I didn't like it."

He looked off to the side before continuing, "At the same time seeing a real ninja was amazing, but I still didn't like it."

Kana tilted a brow, she got the feeling Hanzo meant something else when he said he didn't like it. Her friend probably wasn't about to tell her what he really meant either. She had an idea though but if she presented it to him Kana knew Hanzo would deny it to no end. He never admitted he was scared of something.

"It's just so confusing!" Hanzo shouted in frustration flinging his arms outward. The yell managed to settle him a little, allowing him to release some of the pent up emotion. Exhaling roughly through his nose Hanzo drifted his eyes back over to his friend waiting for her answer.

The girl was thoughtful for a moment before speaking, "Don't worry about it so much Hanzo. If thinking about it for a whole day didn't do any good then thinking about it more won't help." She gave him a bright smile, "Let's get your mind off of it!"

Hanzo watched as his friend sprung to her feet looking determined, "How about we go watch TV! My Dad says its mind numbing! That should help!"

The boy quirked a brow inquiringly, "Why does he say its mind numbing?"

Kana merely gave him a shrug before rushing off back into the house, "Last one to the living room is a rotten egg!"

Seeing her race in Hanzo's competitive side took over with a grin he chased after her, successfully putting his worry to the side for the moment. Shutting the door behind them he hurried after her, the short race ending with Kana's win.

"I win!" She chimed tauntingly with a smug grin while she sat on the floor in front of the television set.

Sitting cross legged the boy waved it off with a causal roll of his eyes, "Pft, you only won because you got a big head start."

"A win is a win." Kana sang with a still grinning gleefully.

Hanzo gave an amused snort before turning on the television. Immediately he perked up more when he saw it was the episode of the show he missed. Leaning forward slightly Hanzo eagerly watched the show with his friend. Kana wasn't as enthused as he was, but it was a very welcome change from the earlier moment. The twenty five minute episode came and went leaving the two watching another show. Kana recognized it but wasn't so familiar with the show, it was an okay cartoon. She didn't mind watching one episode of it.

Looking around Kana realized how quiet it was in the house. Their home was pretty quiet, even compared to her own home, but Kana got the feeling they were the only ones in the home at the moment. Twisting around she looked at the empty couch, Hanzo's father was usually sitting on it when she came over. That or in his room but Kana hadn't heard anything since they came in…then again he had very silent footsteps for someone his size. Still she got the feeling they were alone.

"Hanzo." Her friend made a noise of acknowledgement as he continued to idly watch the movement on the screen, "Where's your dad?"

"Father?" Hanzo echoed, he glanced to his friend. She nodded in quiet reply. Looking back to the TV he continued, "He went out to get some groceries. Last night he realized we were running low on more than he had thought."

Inwardly Hanzo wondered if it was because he needed some space to think. Last time he saw they weren't low on too much. Hanzo didn't say anything about it though, space was a good thing as far as he knew right now.

"So we're here by ourselves?" Kana questioned aloud, looking around, she'd never been by herself before. It was a little worrying. She fidgeted where she sat, eyes still looking around the room, "Your dad just lets you stay home by yourself?"

Noticing the nervousness appear on her face Hanzo blinked not understanding where it was coming from. He nodded curtly, "Yeah, he says he trusts me to stay by myself. Why?"

"Mom and Dad never leave me alone." Kana admitted sounding a bit worried. The house seemed suddenly scarier than it did before. It was like a stranger was about to burst into the house any moment now.

Hanzo frowned at the fearfulness coming over his friend, he huffed. "We'll be fine Kana. Nothing to worry about." He grinned and motioned to himself, "I can keep us safe!"

While Kana's expression calmed she also snorted teasing, "You're not even half the size of an intruder."

This got a twitch from her friend, Hanzo shot her a look and muttered, "I am not small…"

The girl huffed and crossed her arms proudly, "And I'm not scared!"

"Yeah right!" The boy of the pair refuted. "You were totally scared a minute ago!" Hanzo challenged with a playful grin.

Kana retaliated by sticking her tongue out, "Yeah, a minute ago!"

Hanzo stalled trying to figure out a way to counter that comment. He thinned his lips together as he made a thoughtful noise while trying to come up with a remark. Meanwhile Kana held a teasing smirk on her face as the amber-eyed boy vainly tried to make a creative remark. Coming up with nothing Hanzo huffed defiantly, "You were still scared!"

"Uh huh, sure." Kana retorted with a triumphant smirk. She blinked as her friend turned off the TV and asked, "What are we going to do now?"

Turning her head it looked like Hanzo was thinking hard about something. Although she was curious what he was thinking about Kana didn't ask. Hanzo closed his eyes and his brows dug downward, a stiff noise of thought slipped through his frowning lips. Kana was kind of getting a little worried after a while, she was starting to think he was going to give himself a headache. Just when she was about to say something Hanzo looks to her causing Kana to stall her words.

"You want to see the crest I was given?" Hanzo said briskly, the words jumping from his mouth before his mind could catch them. He knew full well he could probably get in trouble for going into his Father's closet but since Kana showed up he'd wanted to show it to her. Finally his want outweighed his worry about getting in trouble. They'd go in and then get out, nothing to worry about.

Hearing this Kana's answer was near immediate, "Yeah!"

Hanzo smiled, getting to his feet he headed out of the living room and motioned for Kana to follow, "Come on, we need to be quick."

Kana blinked and realized that Hanzo would probably get in trouble if they got caught going through his father's closet. She knew she'd get in trouble if she got caught going through her parent's stuff. The reward outweighing the risk though and Kana dipped her head quietly. Hanzo nodded back before leaving the living room and heading down the hall, Kana followed close behind staying quiet as she felt she needed to. Being quiet would keep them from getting caught after all.

Coming into Oda's room Kana looked around, there was always something different about being in a parent's room. The lack of children things, the usual neatness and overall air of maturity was enough to give her pause. Quickly something hanging high up on the wall caught her brown eyes a large arrowhead-like weapon on a chain. She stared at it, it looked really dangerous leaving with her the strong feeling to never touch it.

Hanzo was opening the closet when he heard Kana ask, "Hanzo, what's this?"

Tilting a brow he turned his head and saw her pointing at the Shirai Ryu kunai. With a slight smile he left space in front of the open closet and walked over to her. He looked at the weapon hanging from a strong metal hooks then to his friend, "That's my father's chained kunai."

He grinned proudly and looked over to the brown eyed girl, "My father's going to teach me how to use one when I turn ten." He held a pause for a moment before adding, "If I do well enough in my training."

"He's going to teach you how to use this!?" Kana exclaimed in shock while pointing to the dangerous weapon. Looking at it the weapon was just chain and a large kunai but it looked heavy for what it was. Not to mention too big for a child, even a ten-year-old, to use.

"Well..." Hanzo started slowly realizing the implication of what he said. The boy motioned offhandedly to the chained kunai, "I won't be training with _this_. He'll probably give me a smaller wooden version on a rope. I won't get to touch this until I'm a teenager or something. Maybe. I haven't asked yet."

"Oh." Was all Kana responded with as she looked back to the weapon, it made her uncomfortable.

The boy next to her didn't notice this, he was too filled with pride that he was going to learn how to use weapon on the wall. The chained kunai was a difficult weapon to master but like his forefather's he'd bend the weapon to his will. Eyes looking at the dagger-sized kunai he smirked a bit in anticipation at the thought before mention, "Yeah, it's my family's weapon. It's a tradition to learn how to use it."

Heading back over to the closet he didn't wait for a response from his friend. Hanzo looked around the setup his father had constructed trying to find where he put the medallion. For a moment he stared, he'd never really gotten to look at what his father had, Hanzo was left in awe. He could see the Shirai Ryu uniform neatly folded and laid on a light colored wooden shelf. Briefly he frowned, his father hadn't let him see it the next day. Then again it wasn't a "better time" so the boy let the feeling pass.

Going back to looking for the medallion he stood on his toes trying to get a better look at the shelves. Eyes brightening he spotted the crest with another on a mid-level shelf, "There it is!"

Hearing her friend exclaim Kana tore her attention from the family weapon over to him. Moving over to next to her friend, looking into the closet she was surprised to see the shelving that was inside it. It was definitely hand done, it wasn't fancy just simple shelving. To the side of it was some hanging clothing and some shoes on the floor. Like the rest of the room it was tidy as possible. On one of the middle shelves appeared to be some sort of uniform carefully folded. A more eye catching item took her attention from the clothing. It was a hard, scratched up face mask of some sort. It had sort of insectoid like quality but it didn't look like any insect she was familiar with but she didn't really know much about bugs. Like the weapon though Kana could feel a sort of…pressure coming off of it…

Looking around at the other shelves, she could see Hanzo's father had a lot of gear from weapons: kunai, short swords, daggers, to pouches full of something, and other things she wasn't sure what they were. It lead to one thought as she looked at Hanzo out of the corner of her eye, _was Hanzo's father a Ninja…?_

Kana was pulled from her uncertain thought when Hanzo suddenly jumped up onto the shelves. Surprised she took a step forward, "Hanzo! What are you doing!?"

"Getting the crest. What else would I be doing?" Hanzo grunted as he gripped the shelves with his hands, knuckles turning a little white. It wasn't very easy to grip something like a shelf he was much more used to climbing trees. Hanzo looked at the two crests that were on the self in front of him. Knitting his brows he frowned thinking, _which one is mine?_

Kana huffed, pouting, "Jerk."

Hanzo rolled his eyes lightly at the comment. Looking back to the two items he'd felt his hands shake, he was losing his grip. Quickly the amber-eyed grabbed both with one hand mentally deciding, _better just take them both_.

Hopping down Hanzo looked the two crest over with interest, noticing one was more worn he hummed thoughtfully. Seeing her friend had two in his hands Kana craned her neck to get a better look at them. She arched a brow inquiring, "Why does your dad have two?"

Hanzo gave a quick shrug, and giving no answer. He knew if they continued to be friends Kana would find out about his father's past, but now was not the time to tell her. He looked down at the shinier, newer crest. His crest. Before handing it over to Kana so she could look at it. While she was looking his over Hanzo went back over to the shelves, stretching his arm out he put his father's back on the shelf he'd got it from.

Looking back to Kana, Hanzo saw she was still curiously looking over the emblem. Silently he hopped when she pieced it together it wouldn't put a wedge between them. He didn't like the thought of her ever not liking him. The thought made him very uneasy.

"It looks really nice," Kana commented, bringing Hanzo out of his worried thoughts for the moment. She traced the outline of the scorpion on the medallion, feeling the cool metal under her finger as well as the groves in the item. Turning it over she saw her friend's name etched masterfully into the back. Kana raised a brow at this, she wondered why a ninja would make this for her friend. Dismissing the thought she handed it back to Hanzo and said, "I still don't get why your dad is keeping this from you."

Hanzo gave her a shrug, "Parents," was all he said before putting the item back on the shelf.

Closing the closet he looked to the girl behind her, putting a grin on his face Hanzo said, "Hey, how about we go play hide and seek until my Father gets back?" He chuckled when Kana got a bad look on her face, "What?"

"You just want an easy win." Kana commented dully, crossing her arms with an unimpressed look on her face. "You-"

"I'm a jerk, I know." Hanzo finished for her sounding thoroughly amused. The intensely annoyed look on Kana's face caused a chuckle to bubble from his throat. He thought for a moment head headed out of his father's room, "How about we just watch more TV then?"

No longer sounding or looking annoyed Kana skipped after him, "I like that option better." She chimed, earning a laugh from Hanzo who shut the door behind them.

Inwardly he sighed in relief, looked like they were going to get away with their little break in. Looking back to his friend he smiled Kana didn't look like she was thinking about anything worrying. So maybe the girl didn't think too much about the gear. Turning the TV back on he sat down on the floor, Hanzo admitted to himself he felt better too. Allowing himself to relax he leaned back and propped himself up on his hands and watched whatever show was on at the moment.

* * *

"Son, I'm back with the groceries." Oda said as he walked through the front door, hands full with packed grey plastic bags. Passing by the entrance to the living room he continued on, "Could you help me-" Spotting Kana sitting next to his son he held a momentary pause of surprise, "Oh, Kana you're here."

Kana nodded with a friendly smile, "Yeah, I couldn't come over yesterday so I came over today instead."

Hanzo's father blinked in surprise but was not bothered in the least by her presence. It was good to know his son had company while he was gone. Mostly because he knew how bothered Hanzo had been after the Shirai Ryu had shown up. Or to be exact, had been bothered how his father had reacted to the arrival. Oda had tried to resume normalcy the next day but he soon realized it would take time for his son to process the event.

"Do you need help with the bags Father?" Hanzo asked bringing his father's attention to him, the boy already standing up in case the answer was yes.

Oda nodded, "Yes there are a few more bags outside. Start bringing them in."

"Yes Father." Hanzo answered while he went out to go get the bags.

Getting to her feet Kana looked at the older man as he headed to the kitchen, "Do you want me to help too?" She asked kindly.

Oda stopped walking for a moment and looked back at the little girl. He shook his head politely at the offer, "Oh no, thank you Kana that's nice of you but it's no trouble. We'll have this taken care of in a minute."

The girl ignored his reply and headed out the open front door, "It's no trouble Mr. Hasashi."

Sighing Oda shook his head lightly, clearly he was being left no room to argue so instead he made a compromise, "Very well, but let us put the food away."

"Okay!" Kana called back as she was outside picking up a couple of bags.

The extra pair of hands the bags were brought inside in no time. To keep Kana from assisting in putting them away Oda had her and his son go to the living room saying that he was going to make them some lunch. After putting away all the food he had bought the father made some simple lunches made of sandwiches, sliced fruit and a glass of juice. Calling the children to the dinner table they three of them had lunch together. While they ate, Oda eating the same thing as the kids, he noticed his son was much happier than when he had left.

When they were done eating Kana announced she had to leave as her mother had told her to be home after lunch. She said her good-bye to her friend and was escorted home by Oda. Upon returning home the father was happy to see that his son was stretching in preparations for his training. He smiled, "Feeling in better spirits, Hanzo?"

"Yes, I won't get farther in my training if I worry about something that I don't need to." Hanzo stated as he stretched his arm over his head.

_I'll make sure you don't have to worry about the clan…_Oda promised to his mentally. Wearing a faint smile he moved, instead of his usual spot he stood at one end of the training area. His son looked at him a moment before moving to the other end. He knew what this meant. Oda nodded to this, "Good, I hope you're up for some sparring. I want to see for myself how much you've progressed."

Hanzo got into his fighting stance and gave his father a sly grin, "Far enough you'll know I'll be ready for kunai training when I turn ten."

The sureness in his son's voice caused Oda to utter a chuckle, "Come at me with everything you've got and we'll see."

* * *

**Dear god I'm so sorry for the long gap in the update. First a family issue happened and after that I fell to college, then well procrastination took hold. To make up for it I'm going to focus on this story at least until Hanzo is finally into his teenage year from there his adult year will be only a couple chapters off. I really just want to get this story rolling into the real good stuff. **

**Please follow/favorite and Review. The support is really appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8 Friendly Meeting

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 8: Friendly Meeting**

"This is going to be great!" Katsuro said cheerfully to his friends as they piled into one bus seat on Hanzo's and Kana's bus. He looked to Hanzo who was up against the bus window, "I'm glad your Dad is letting me come over for the day. I can hardly wait!"

Hanzo returned his smile slightly, it was a bit uncomfortable with the three of them in one seat but he could endure, "Heh, yeah, he was pretty okay with it." He held a moment and looked to his friend, "You got the invitation ready for him right? He wants to let me go to your birthday party, but you know."

Katsuro blink before saying "Oh yeah, I do." He pulled his orange backpack up onto his lap and patted the front pocket, "the envelope is right in here." Unzipping the pocket he handed it to his friend, "Here you go."

"Thanks." Hanzo replied before putting the envelope into his backpack, his father should be okay with him sleeping over at Katsuro's home for his birthday now. Once he had a talk with Katsuro's father, but the amber eyed boy was certain that'd go well. If Katsuro was nice then surely his Dad would be okay at least, well that's what Hanzo thought anyway.

"Here's yours Kana." Katsuro said as he handed the girl her own envelop with an invitation inside it. His friend excitedly took the light blue envelope and stuck it inside her bag immediately.

"Thanks!" Kana exclaimed happily before looking at Katsuro with a beaming smile, "I'm sure my parents will let me come. And I already know what I'm going to get you for your birthday. You're going to love it!"

Katsuro laughed softly, "Wow that was fast!"

"Yep!" Kana said proudly, "I'm good at giving gifts. My Mom said so!"

"Speaking of gifts," Hanzo said catching the girl and his friend's attention, they looked to him, "How's that sculpture you're making for your Dad coming out?"

Appearing embarrassed Kana looked away slightly, with a bit of an awkward smile, "I had to redo it. The teacher said it would have broken in the kiln." She perked right up before either of her friends come reassure her. "But, the new version is better. I just have to finish painting it." She gave a sheepish laugh, "Again."

"Your teacher okayed it for the kiln this time right?" Katsuro asked with a slight reassuring smile.

Kana nodded with a bright smile, "Yep!" She glanced off recalling the moment she had, "It was disappointing, but like I said the new version is better and won't break in the kiln! I'm just upset I couldn't get it to Dad sooner than I wanted to…"

Hanzo frowned to himself, he knew Kana wanted to give the sculpture to her Dad because he was working so hard. After the one time he'd gone over to her house he'd been there a couple more times afterwards. Her father always seemed tired, working hard to make money for his family. He didn't know what job he had but he didn't seem to enjoy it much. A few times his father came home tired but Hanzo knew he liked his job. The boy guessed there was a difference between liking your job and not.

"He'll enjoy getting it whenever you finish Kana. Don't worry." Hanzo reassured to her with a soft smile. Katsuro nodded readily in agreement.

"Hanzo is right." He agreed with a sure tone.

Kana smiled to her two friends, "Thanks guys," spotting their stop up ahead she straightened in her seat, "Oh hey! Our stop is coming up!" The two boys quickly looked out the window and watched as the bus neared their destination. When it came to a full stop Kana quickly leapt from her seat and went to the stairs, "Come on you two! Get moving!"

"Ah! Wait up for us!" Katsuro said in surprise as he hurried after their friend, Hanzo shortly behind him. The two boys quickly moved off of the bus and were forced to run after Kana, who was already making her way towards the path that lead to Hanzo's home. The fact surprised Katsuro momentarily, but it was quickly clear she was playing around. Turning around she laughed as she waved at the boys.

"Race you to the house!" Kana laughed, amusement dancing in her voice. No sooner than she had said that the girl turned and raced her way to the house.

"Kana you cheater!" Hanzo yelled as he rushed after Kana, an amused grin on his face as he steadily began catching up with her.

Katsuro smiled as he watched the two race off to the home. Realizing he needed to catch up he bolted after them yelling, "Hey, wait up for me guys!"

"Then run faster!" Hanzo teased playfully as he began to pass Kana, much to her annoyance causing a laugh from the amber-eyed boy.

The race ended with Hanzo's victory of course. Katsuro came in second much to his friend's slight surprise. Despite being behind by quite a bit he'd caught up and was panting no more than Hanzo was. This was over looked quickly as they entered the house, Kana steaming a bit over the teasing Hanzo was giving. The annoyance would blew over quickly when they entered the Hasashi home and was gave way for excitement.

Katsuro looked around curiously at the small old home, he blinked looking a bit surprise. It wasn't quite what he expected but he said nothing to it. Hearing the door shut behind him he looked to Hanzo who was locking the door. Katsuro was about to say something when the young boy heard someone moving in the living room. Figuring who it was Katsuro grinned excitedly and turned around.

Seeing his friend's father he stood straight and greeted him with a bow of his head, "Hello, Mr. Hasashi I'm Katsuro."

Oda looked at the boy a moment before nodding, "Call me by my first name Oda. It's good to meet a friend of my son." He man held a moment of pause and spoke again, "I've been told about the sleep over. Do you have the invitations ready? I just need to speak with your father or mother once."

"A-Ah, yes I do sir-Oda sir," Katsuro stammered with a small grin. Hanzo's father arched a brow, he could see how Hanzo said his friend panicky in social situations. The boy motioned to Oda's son, "I gave it Hanzo on the bus. I'm sorry about the trouble. I should have had the invitations ready before asking anyone…"

"There's no need to apologize," Oda stated, some softness present in his voice. The child was more easily flustered than he thought. Had he known how bad he was Oda would have made his approach gentler, even though his request wasn't stern to begin with. Still the man didn't want to upset the child. He smiled, "I was just making sure."

The father looked to his son, "Just leave the invitation on the hall table and your free to play." With that the amber-eyed man left the hall and returned to the living room.

Quickly Hanzo took the envelope out of his backpack and left it on the wooden table. Oda's son hurried his friends into his room, running down the hall whilst motioning them to fall. Kana was swift to follow her friend while Katsuro looked towards the living room with curiosity. He glanced down the hall where his friends had left to. Walking down the hall to where Hanzo's room would be he glanced into the living room briefly. Katsuro picked up the pace after his friends called for him.

"Katsuro hurry up slowpoke!" Hanzo yelled sounding impatient.

"Coming!" Katsuro called back. A short sprint later he arrived in Hanzo's room where his friends were waiting. Grinning sheepishly he explained himself, "Sorry, got caught up in looking around…"

Hanzo looked at him a moment before shrugging off his friends slight oddness, "Not much to see." He stated flippantly.

Taking a seat on the floor where his friends where sitting Katsuro made a thoughtful noise, "I guess so…" He wasn't sure what to say to Hanzo's response so he shifted the topic, "Your Dad sure is tall." Kana nodded in agreement to Katsuro's statement get a vague laugh from Hanzo.

"I guess so." Hanzo stated. Thinking back the boy then thoughtfully added, "Don't think I've ever seen anyone taller than my Dad." He grinned a bit, "I'll be taller than him when I'm grown up though."

"Yeah right." Kana disbelievingly said with a slight roll of her eyes.

Katsuro chuckled a little amused by his friend's statement thought, "You're dreaming Hanzo. No way will you be taller than your Dad. He's at least six feet tall!"

"Actually he is." Hanzo affirmed, his friends blinked at the confirmation of Katsuro's guess. The amber-eyed one of the trio then furrowed his brow with annoyance, "And I will too. Just you wait and see." Hanzo declared crossing his arms with stubborn sureness while uttering a pouting huff.

"If you say so." Kana responded, still sounding amused she earned an annoyed huff from her friend. Stifling an amused laugh the girl said, "Anyway, what should we do?"

Knowing Katsuro's father would be coming to pick him up eventually the three friends quickly worked out what they were going to do. Sadly for Kana the first thing up was hide and seek, and further sadly she was the seeker. Much to her pride though she managed to find the boys, securing a victory for herself for the first time in a while. It was then followed with a game of tag which ended up lasting longer than they had planned but in the end it mattered little if fun was being had. The game was finally brought to an end when Hanzo's father called them in for a snack to eat. After brief insistence Oda allowed the kids to take the food into the backyard to eat it.

"Your Dad seems really cool." Katsuro commented before he bit into the sandwich he'd been given to eat. A crisp crunch of lettuce was heard as he bit down.

"Yeah, he is." Hanzo agreed, he looked around at the backyard, grinning as he looked at the square dirt spot, "This is where he trains me ya'know."

"Really?" His friend questioned before grinning, "Cool!" He blinked a bit looking around, "Not what I thought the training place would look like, but whatever." Getting a curious look he turned his head back to his friend, "How's the training going?"

Hanzo shrugged, "Going good," He grinned, "Father says I'm learning pretty quickly. By the time I'm ten I'm going to start learning my family's weapon. The chained kunai!" His excitement died a little, gaining some annoyance, "I still can't get a hit in on my Father though…" The amber eyed boy snorted confidently, "I'll get him one day though."

Katsuro smiled pleased to hear his friend was doing good, "That's good." He chuckled and teasingly grinned, "Well good luck with that. Your Dad looks pretty tough Hanzo."

"Yeah, he is." Hanzo admitted somewhat stubbornly.

"Where'd he learn how to do Ninjutsu?" Katsuro asked curiously. His friend seemed a bit surprised by the question and he could see it in his eyes that he was thinking hastily for an answer.

"Oh, his Father taught him. It's a family thing." Hanzo answered briskly with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

His friend seemed thoughtful for a moment, then asked, "Does that mean your family was part of a ninja clan once?"

Hanzo stalled at the question, surprised by how accurate the guess was. In fact he was the first generation _not_ to be raised in their family's clan. It took him a moment to get himself to nod his head, "Y-yeah, I guess so…maybe I don't know. I haven't asked, or really thought about it like that."

"Really?" Katsuro questioned, Hanzo nodded his friend smiled in return, "Well, I'd think it'd be pretty cool if your family were ninjas once!"

Hanzo looked at him a moment, he knew why he was saying that. Most people would think that considering how ninjas were portrayed in modern times. Highly skilled warriors that could accomplish possible feats. The word ninja coincided with being skilled. Hanzo on the other hand knew from his father that it wasn't a good think. His friend was just unaware of that. Hanzo gave him a forced smile, "Yeah, it would be…"

Katsuro blinked his grey eyes picking up on the less than enthused tone. There was a pause of silence until Kana cut in, "Hey are you guys going to finish your sandwiches? I want to get back to doing something before Katsuro's father comes and gets him."

"Oh right!" Katsuro pipped, going back to eating his sandwich.

Quietly Hanzo nodded and resumed finishing his. He eyed his friend a bit, deciding in his head that he'd keep quiet about the Shirai Ryu ninja showing up. Hanzo knew his friend would not only let loose with questions but would figure out his Father was one at one point. He was fine with Kana figuring out eventually, but somehow Hanzo felt his friend would insist he'd join when he was old enough. He was too enthusiastic and Hanzo didn't want anyone encouraging him to go against his promise. Katsuro wasn't bad, just too enthused about something he didn't really know anything about.

The sun was beginning to set when a knock at the door caught Oda Hasashi's attention. Originally he was going to call Katsuro's father but then he realized that the man was going to pick up his son. Oda still planned on talking with him again before the party, just to be sure. Opening the door he was met with a man younger than he, no surprise there, dressed in what he guessed was a dark grey work suit. Oda blinked noticing his eyes were rather sharp in appearance, it made him give pause. He pulled himself from his thoughts when the man offered him his hand.

"I'm Hisoka Inazuma, Katsuro's father, I've come to pick him up." When Oda took his hand he shook it firmly and bowed his head, "Pleasure to meet you. Sorry about the issues with the invitations, Katsuro can be a bit of a scatter brain at times."

"Its fine, the issue has been resolved." Oda moved aside and motioned for him to come inside, "please come in I'd like to speak with you. I'm sure the children wouldn't mind a few more minutes of play."

Hisoka grinned slightly, stepping inside of the home, "I'm sure they wouldn't."

Oda led the way to the living room and they each took a seat on the couch as there was nowhere else to sit, but a comfortable space was left between them. Looking to the man next to him Oda felt he was rather reserved, calm and collected yet had a confident air. It was a familiar air. Oda dismissed the thought in favor of speaking to him, "As you may know I am Oda Hasashi, forgive me for the late introduction."

"No need for that, it's perfectly fine." Hisoka commented calmly, "And thought I've heard a bit about you from my son this is the first time I've heard your name. I'm guessing you want to speak with me due to the party? It's understandable if that's the reason."

Oda blinked a bit surprised by the man's forwardness, yet accepting nature. He nodded curtly, "Yes, then you must understand, Hanzo is very important to me."

Hisoka nodded, "As a farther myself, I understand perfectly." He motioned to go on with his hand, "Please go ahead and ask anything you wish to."

For a moment Oda looked at the man, he acting to calm about this it was almost like he was acting professional, "Very well…" Oda said slowly, before proceeding to talk with Katsuro's father. In the end he found nothing exactly wrong with the man, he worked with social services. A respectable job. Though Oda found it hard that such a man was related to a somewhat socially awkward child. Perhaps Hisoka was the type to be more worried about his professional affairs than his son. Sadly he could picture that being true.

The conversation was brought to a close when the children came into the room. The kids apparently hadn't heard Hisoka come in because Katsuro was momentarily surprised. "D-Dad? How long have you been here?"

"Oh not too long," Hisoka answered casually with a slight shrug, he smiled, "I've just been talking with Oda, getting to know one another. That's all really." He looked to his son still smiling, "Did you enjoy your time?"

Even Katsuro seemed a bit off put by his father's…odd casual mannerism, that or the smile he was wearing. He nodded briskly, "Yes of course, Kana, Hanzo and I had a lot of fun. We just finished talking. Kana said it's time for her to head home."

Oda looked to the clock and was surprised by the time. Seemed his conversation with Hisoka had lasted longer than he'd thought. He looked to the girl, "Sorry Kana, I was going to get you but it seems I lost track of time."

"It's fine." Kana answered simply.

Hisoka nodded in apparent agreement, odd smile still on his face, "Yes, well I think it's time me and Katsuro head home too."

"Yes, of course." Oda agreed, the two men stood up and shook hands again.

"Before we go, what is your say to Hanzo attending the party?" Mr. Inazuma asked calmly with a slight questioning tilt of his head.

Oda thought for a moment, dismissing the oddness of Hisoka he himself didn't feel anything off about the man. Perhaps social oddness just ran in the family. Honestly he couldn't find any excuse to say. Nodding he gave his answer, "Yes, Hanzo may go, but I would like to speak before the party itself. Just to be clear on details."

"Of course." Hisoka replied with a simple nod, "I'm typically home around four to five, six at the latest. Five is the best time to call."

"I'll keep that in mind." Oda stated before looking to the children, "Say your good-byes, I'll be waiting at the door for you when you're ready to leave Kana. I'll be walking you home again."

The three kids said their good-byes to each other, Oda walked out with Kana and Hisoka walked out with his son. Hanzo waved them a farewell at the door before heading back inside, perfectly satisfied with how the day went. The four walked together, giving Kana and Katsuro a few more minutes of chatting, until they came to the Inazuma's car. A few more good-byes and Katsuro and his father got into the car. Driving off there was some silence between father and son for a few moments until Hisoka turned on the radio.

"So, how'd it go Katsuro?" His father asked shifting the station a couple of times while the drove.

Katsuro seemed momentarily confused before answering, "It went fine. We played a lot and talked even more." He laughed, feet kicking against his seat.

"Oh what'd you talk about?" Hisoka questioned in a seeming offhanded manner, he gave a faint laugh, "More about his ninja training?"

"Yep!" Katsuro chirped happily, "He said it's going good. That he'll start training with a weapon his family used when he turns ten!"

"Oh?" Hisoka hummed, his son nodded, he smiled subtly, "That's interesting to hear."

* * *

**Somewhat late, but quicker update than last time! Got caught up in two new stories that decided to pop up**  
**But this is the second to last chapter of the childhood arc I suppose you could call it. Next chapter will be the last one and it'll have at least a couple of time skips. Hisoka was fun to write for despite the brief appearance, hopefully he'll show up again. Props to anyone who can guess what his name is reference to!**

**Please tell me what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9 Progress of Time

**Kindling of Wrath**

_By Miss-DNL_

**Chapter 9: Progress of Time**

The scene was familiar, but the time between this one and the last occurrence made it feel more disappointing than the others. The previous times Oda had been used to it, sadly expected it to happen at least twice a week. Now in its absence the feeling had caught him off guard and hit him hard like a trained punch straight to the gut. Oda let out a long, heavy sight as he shook his head slightly, almost as if he were tired. He looked at his son sitting before him, staring down at the floor. His expression from what could be seen was a mixture of frustration, disappointment and stubbornness. It was difficult for Oda to tell which was winning out, for the moment.

He shook his head again and this time spoke, "Hanzo…" Oda started slowly, he took a breath to ensure his emotions were in check. They were, so he continued, "I had thought we'd gotten pass your reckless behavior once you made friends…yet once again here we are."

Hanzo sat on his knees, head still bowed down in submissiveness to his farther. A vague twitch from him upon hearing the disappointment ringing clear in his father's voice. Yet he remained quiet staring down at the ground. The young boy dug his finger nails into his hand as he clenched his hands into fits, knuckles going white as he pent up his urge to yell out. That had never gotten him anywhere.

Seeing that his son was remaining quiet Oda spoke, "This time it seems you won against your attackers. Are you satisfied now?" The only response he got was a shake of the head. Oda eyed his son critically before continuing, "Then _why_? _Why_ did you give that one boy a black eye? What was the reason for this? The reason his mother came to me telling that you attack _her son_?"

"Because he and his friends were ganging up on Kana!" Hanzo shouted, the yell resulting in him being short of breath for a brief while. Realizing he had yelled anyway Hanzo drew back into silence, biting his lower lip as he mentally kicked himself for reacting before thinking. He never seemed to quiet learn to look before he leapt. Tensing he recalled what happened, "We'd gotten off the bus, we walking home. I was shoved, and when I looked up they were pushing her around. _Laughing_ at the gift she made and broke it on _**purpose**_!"

Staring down at his son Oda looked at him in shock, he'd thought that something off was with what the woman had said. Yet he'd been so caught off guard by his son's seeming degradation in behavior he let himself get upset. Oda thinned his lips out and allowed his son to go on. Hanzo gritted his teeth, the memory was fresh having happened only less than thirty minutes ago. Anger was still welling in his stomach.

"I was defending her, I **won't** apologize for that." Hanzo finished stiffly, he worried that he'd have to defy his father in a few moments. Something that he would prefer to avoid completely but this wasn't something he was going to change his mind on. He'd only fought Soma and his gang because of their actions. They _deserved _it. He didn't feel pride for what he did, it'd been for the sake of Kana not _him_.

Silence settled between the father and son, leaving Hanzo with apprehension. He worried he'd over stepped his bounds. His father was never cruel but he made sure his punishments were proper. Usually tailing more chores for long standings of times, no television either. Never had his father taken back a punishment when Hanzo learned his lesson early.

The memory of what had happened before he returned home kept him defiant. The fact it kept replaying in his mind over and over made it more so. The day had been normal in the sense that it had played out as usual for the most part he woke up, ate breakfast and went to school. Things looked up to make it a bit more notable when Kana proudly told him that she'd finished her art project. Katsuro and he congratulated her on her sculpture, it had hardly been a masterpiece to put in an art museum (they were elementary schoolers after all) but Hanzo felt it'd been leagues better than what he could've accomplished. The arts had never been a strong point of his but thankfully it was difficult class to fail.

School ended as scheduled and the two said their usual good-byes to Katsuro. Boarding their bus Hanzo got a bad vibe from Soma as he passed Kana and him to his usual seat at the back of the bus. He just got the feeling he was up to something by the look on his face, but he ignored it in favor for chatting with Kana. Katsuro's party was coming up, he didn't want to ruin it by getting in a stupid fight. Also Chang and his gang hadn't really bothered him in a wonderfully long time, no reason to incite aggression now. The longer he didn't react the better the chance they'd get bored of him, maybe they already had.

His brief hope was utterly abolished as they were heading home. Hanzo had been so blissfully at ease that he'd dropped his guard. That would like be the last time he ever did so. The next thing he knew was he was face down on the ground. Head filled with buzzing flies, he could taste blood from a cut lip. With a groan he'd looked up to and immediately felt anger flare up in his stomach. Despite frantic protests from Kana, Chang and his cronies shoved her around laughing as she pleaded for them to stop.

Then the gift she had worked so hard on, even having to redo it was cruelly knocked from her hands. Hitting the ground it broke apart to the point of beyond repair, the hardened clay no match for the thick concrete. Up until that point Kana hadn't shed a tear, but once her gift was destroyed the water works came, and with them Hanzo snapped.

The boy couldn't recall exactly what happened he just remembered anger, anger and him rushing right at Chang. He struck him, he went tumbling after that it was vague. There was yelling, and hitting. The next thing he knew was Chang and his friends were running away, and him glaring at them as they left. He was hurting from bruises but his main concern was his friend.

Kana was wiping her own tears away by the time he came over to her. She uttered a soft thanks and he helped her home, apologizing that he didn't stop Chang from destroying her gift. Kana hugged him saying it wasn't his fault. He stalled a moment before warmly returning the embrace. Despite the tender moment, the walk back to her home was a quiet one, they'd both been through an emotionally exhausting moment, getting home had been their only goal.

Hanzo was yanked back to the present by his father's voice, "No. I cannot fault you for defending your friend. In fact, I'm proud you stood up for her."

All worry and stress seemed to ebb slowly from the amber-eyed boy's body. He finally looked up to his father, eyes wide with surprise. He was proud? A faint smile manage to appear on Hanzo's cut lips, it was weak but present. A slight one showed on his father's as well when he saw his son's face brighten.

However, with a sigh he frowned causing confusion on his son's part, "But, I cannot condone your reckless behavior, either." Hanzo hung his head once more. "You're still going to be punished…just not a severely."

Hanzo perked a bit at the last bit, his father was going to soften his punishment. That was a _very_ rare occurrence, in of itself happening told the boy his father truly was proud of him. He'd be receiving a slap on the wrist instead of an actual sentence. Hanzo's face warmed with a smile, then he held a pause a question arising.

"Will I still be able to go to Katsuro's part…?" He asked carefully, hoping to himself that he'd still be allowed. Yes, his father said he wasn't going to outright punish him, but he had to be sure just to be safe.

Oda chuckled faintly at the question, clearly his son had his priorities set, and nodded, "Yes, you will still be able to go."

At that the young boy bolted up from where he'd been kneeling and gave his father a heartfelt hug, "Thank you Father!"

Hanzo was surprised when he arrived at Katsuro's home, he hadn't known what to expect by he didn't know he lived in one of the few apartment buildings around town. It was a nice sizeable apartment building, nothing bad, just not what he expected. From what he knew about his friend Hanzo had somehow expected him to be in a home like Kana's. Regardless he was excited to be here, Kana who was next to him shared his excitement. They'd stopped briefly to pick her up so that they could arrive together, both of them having bags for what they'd need for the night.

They were greeted by Katsuro and his farther Hisoka at the door, the three friends ran off into the living room where everything had been set up for them. Hanzo was idle for a moment at the entrance of the living room, listening to his Father speak with Hisoka. Oda had already spoken with Hisoka the day prior, from what he'd overheard briefly there seemed to have been no issues. Of course though Oda was making sure before leaving, Hisoka easily assure him everything would be safe and that he'd be around making sure nothing happened. Hanzo's father was silent a moment before wishing his son a farewell. Quickly Hanzo hurried over hugging his father before he left, separating he said his good-byes and joined his friends.

Soon as the door shut and he heard his Father drive off Hanzo felt a wave of anxiety crash over him. What if something bad happened while he was gone? What if Katsuro's father couldn't protect them?

"Hanzo what movie do you want to watch?" Katsuro called, yanking Hanzo from his troubled thoughts. Hanzo blinked his amber eyes realizing he was sitting on the floor on his knees, over by the VHS player holding up two movies both seeming to be martial arts based.

"Kana and I can decide, be the tiebreaker." Katsuro explained seeming to have not noticed his friends worry. Hanzo pointed to a random one and he popped the movie into the VHS player and hit play. While the movie was starting he suddenly hurried over to the nearby kitchen saying, "I forgot to make the popcorn!"

Soon enough the sound of the microwave started up along with Katsuro scurrying about the kitchen to get the drinks and snacks ready. Kana asked if he needed help but the boy insisted that he'd handle it. Kana watched him move about for a minute before going over to comfort her other friend. Scooting next to the once again silent Hanzo she titled her head to get a looked at his anxious face, "Hanzo are you okay?"

Blinking out of his thoughts he gave her a smile, "I'll be fine."

Taking his words at face value Kana didn't press him further about it as Katsuro came over with the drinks and a couple of bags of chips. While he hadn't been _completely_ honest with Kana his nervousness quickly vanished once the party got underway. It was nothing big or fancy but the trio had fun nonetheless. After they finished watching the first movie Kana got Katsuro to open her and Hanzo's gifts. Hanzo had gotten him a Bokken, which Katsuro was quick to swing around for a bit. Hanzo inwardly was surprised his form wasn't bad, maybe he was a natural. He didn't dwell on it too much. Kana had gotten him a movie he'd been wanting, which the three agreed to watch next over the other movie that had been in line.

As the night went on Hisoka would occasionally check in on the gang of children, asking if they needed anything. At one point he ordered some take out for the kids about an hour after Hanzo and Kana had arrived. The children cheered at the decision. During the second movie, Kana's gift, he received a call from work which he took into the next room to avoid disturbing the kids as they watched the movie.

Sometime past midnight the trio began yawning too much to continue staying up, much to their slight annoyance. The three settled themselves on sleeping mats that had been provided by Katsuro and his family. The mat Hanzo had gotten was a bit stiff but not uncomfortable, he laid there for a while just going over the get together. Shifting his head he saw that Katsuro and Kana had already fallen asleep. Looking around at the darkened room he felt a brief pang of nervousness realizing how far away his father was. Hanzo shrugged it off, not only was the phone nearby but he felt no need to worry everything was fine. He smiled recalling the simple fun he and his friends had during the party movies, food, giving gifts and chatter. Shifting onto his side Hanzo settled down and quickly fell into a peaceful sleep.

A few years later…

"Are you ready Hanzo?" Oda asked evenly to his now ten-year-old son, who in his hands had the training version of a chained kunai-a rope with a wooden Kunai at the end. Inwardly he couldn't be prouder of his son. He'd grown well in the past few years, and his training was advancing better than expected. It was no true surprise though, his son was anything if not determined and dedicated. Outwardly though he wore an expectant and indifferent expression of master.

"Of course Father." Hanzo answered dutifully, body poised like their family warrior namesake a scorpion. Dominant hand pulled back up in the air, ready to toss the practice weapon.

"Good. Now, begin!" His father ordered, as he expected the first attempt to hit target failed. Seeing the determined expression Oda barked, "Reel it in swiftly and try again!"

With a slight jump Hanzo briskly pulled the rope back and tossed it again, failure. His father barked again and he tried again. This continued for over an hour, with the sun high Hanzo quickly began to perspire but was no less determined to hit the target. His hands hurt from messing with the rough rope for so long. Oh well, he'd develop rougher hands to deal with it over time. Right now he just needed to nail that stupid wooden block! Determined and frustrated Hanzo flung the wooden kunai. A grin formed on his sweat dotted face when the small, thin wooden block was toppled over.

"Good job," Oda praised lightly, causing his son to straighten before he could look proud though he firmly added, "Now set it up and do it again."

Hopping to it Hanzo hurried over, uttering, "Yes Father!"

Unfortunately for Hanzo he didn't hit the target again right away, once more it took several more tries but he did manage to hit the target a few more times before they moved to the next training exercises. As time went on however, Hanzo's aim and proficiency with the weapon improved as with the rest of his skills. His devotion to his training remained strong as ever in order to make his father proud. Hanzo's thoughts of his brief encounter to the Shirai Ryu agent a thing of the past, along with his thoughts of the crest he'd been given. He hadn't thought about it since that month that it'd happened…

"Back off Soma!" Barked a middle schooler aged Hanzo as he glared down the other young teen who'd unwisely decided to pick on his friend Katsuro. Soma glared back at Hanzo but having recent been out grown and still out muscled by the other teen the now chubbier Soma growled before back off. Hanzo kept his glare on the offender until he was out of sight, grunting to himself as he headed over to Katsuro who was straightening himself out. Opening his locker that was near his friend's Hanzo said, "You really need to learn to defend yourself Katsuro. You're the only one that still gets messed with by him."

In recent years Katsuro had grown out of his slight oddness of childhood years and had become quite fit, considered a looker even, but hardly a fighter. Something Hanzo found odd because he was certainly in shape enough to at least defend himself. He never seemed to try though for whatever reason.

Soma on the other hand had gained a few pounds in mass but not muscle and was pretty much a solo delinquent while the rest of his former friend had grown out of their phase. The former ringleader Chang even refused to associate with him after a while. The Chinese boy apologized to Kana one day before his family moved back to their homeland. Hanzo didn't know the reason why but didn't really care to find out. While they still dealt with Soma from time to time the other student usually backed off if Hanzo showed up.

"Yeah I probably should," Katsuro replied almost musingly, not seeming fazed by the incident in the slightest.

A vague grin on his face lead to his friend asking, "Why don't you? You seem like you should be able to."

For a moment Katsuro merely looked at his friend, something flickering in his eyes before he simply shrugged noncommittally, "A brawl just doesn't appeal to me like it does for you I guess. Besides you've seen him! He's hardly a real threat!"

Glancing off where Soma had slunk off to Hanzo grunted in agreement. Soma was all bark and no bite, about as threatening as a dog with no teeth.

"Now I have a question for you." Katsuro said briefly glancing off down the hall, the two were waiting for Kana as school was over. The halls were filled with people milling about gathering their stuff to leave, or chatting with friends.

Hanzo blinked, "What of?"

"When are you going to tell Kana you like her?" The grin on Katsuro's face only added to what he said, Hanzo froze up face heating up. By now the amber eyed teen regretted telling his friend recently. Now every so often he'd pester him about telling his feelings to Kana which had progressively grown since the tail end of elementary school. Though only in middle school did he realize what exactly it was.

Seeing his friend's deer in headlights expression Katsuro snickered faintly, "She's growing into a lovely lady. You might want to get it into gear Hanzo. High school is right around the corner and she's already got her mind on getting a boyfriend you know."

How could he forget? That was his reason _for _telling Katsuro in the first place. One day he'd heard Kana discussing the topic with some girls while meeting up with her. His arrival had earned him some discrete giggles and knowing looks.

"I don't know! I don't know how to even go about it!" Hanzo hissed to his friend, trying not to bite his head off in public. It'd catch too much attention and Kana was bound to show up soon as well.

Katsuro rolled his eyes, "Why not just tell her? It's not like she's going to be mean about it." He continued even though Hanzo tried to interject, "Besides, I happen to know she likes you back." He sniggered as the taller teen stared at him, "Just told me today. Now you literally have no excuse."

The wily teen looked behind his friend and grinned in a knowing manner, "In fact. Here she comes now." He mused as Hanzo's eyes became twice their normal size. Hanzo looked behind him and indeed saw Kana approaching. Looking back the amber-eyed teen opened his mouth to say something but it was left hanging when he saw Katsuro was leaving. Looking back he grinned again, "I'll leave you to it! You'd better not get cold feet about it or _I'll_ tell her tomorrow! So don't mess it up!"

Hanzo's face twitched, at times like this he almost wished his friend was a little more like his meeker elementary school self, almost. Still he was right, now was the time and he had no excuse. Kana liked him, he liked her. There was no reason for him** not **to make a move. Hearing his name called behind him he straightened up, he'd heard her coming but had been too focused on his thoughts to me. Turning to her he gave a faint smile, "Hey."

Kana had grown her hair out in the years, it went past her shoulders now and she planned on letting it grow longer. Hanzo knew she'd look lovely in a geisha outfit when she got older. Pulling himself from his mind the teen focused as Kana looked passed him, seeming a bit confused, "Why'd Katsuro leave early?"

Quickly Hanzo came up with an excuse, trying to ignore his friend's pestering musing tone that drifted through his mind, "He had to leave a bit early, something about homework."

"Oh, alright," Kana answered buying his white lie, she smiled at him and began walking to the bus, "We'd better get going too."

Hanzo nodded and followed behind her, his mind rapidly working out how he'd confess to her. He kept quiet as he trailed behind her, when they took their seats and when the bus started. Thankfully this wasn't so odd for his character, he'd taken after his father in being the stoic quiet type. He'd talk when spoken too or when he really wanted to speak otherwise he was silent. Still he had the time limit of the bus ride to contend with, as such he put his mind to work. The amber-eyed teenager wanted to get this off his chest before they parted ways to go home. For the life of him though he could think of _how_ to _say_ it. Hanzo wasn't good with pairing word with emotions, never really had been and he doubt he ever would be. So with an emotion such as this…he was a virtual fish out of water.

He'd always been more one for letting his _actions_ speak for him. Hanzo blinked, as always he'd let his actions speak for him now all he had to do was wait.

The ride to their stop seemed longer than usual but only because Hanzo's mind was anxiously awaiting the time to tick away. When it finally came everything seemed to rush back to normal speed, Hanzo swore he could sound catching up to speed in his ears. He said nothing to this as he followed Kana off the bus. Stepping off he noticed she'd been quiet all the way here, looking at her he could see something was on her mind and it caused his stomach to knot once. Pushing the feeling down Hanzo took a breath, now or never.

"Kana," He called catching the girl's attention, "walk home with me, please."

His childhood friend looked at him and nodded, "Sure."

Smiling faintly Hanzo walked next to Kana towards his home, no words just silence and walking. Every so often he'd glance at her, reading her expression. She seemed to know something was going to happen but she wasn't worried, maybe she knew or maybe Kana had something of her own plan. Inwardly Hanzo grinned, if that was true now he was determined to beat her to it. Now he was almost excited to get his feelings out into the open.

They were halfway to his home when Hanzo decided it was time, they were by themselves but not too close that his father would see. He didn't have any worries about his father objecting, in fact he'd been dropping hints that he should make a move. Thankfully less often than Katsuro. Turning Hanzo took Kana's smaller, softer, hands into his larger rougher ones. His friend looked slightly surprise but looking up at him she understood where this was going. Hanzo leaned in, and they kissed.

It was nothing like fireworks going off or anything extravagant. It affirmed their feelings for each other and that's all they wanted.

Pulling back Hanzo savored the warm feeling in his chest for a moment until Kana spoke up, a playful smile on her face, "I had a whole confession speech you know."

Hanzo laughed lightly, grinning in equal playfulness, "So I bet you to it then?"

Shaking her head Kana rolled her eyes, "You jerk."

Holding her hand Hanzo lead her to his house, the two walking side by side, "Come on, I'm sure my father will love to hear this."

* * *

**Little longer than the last one. One last chapter to go.**


End file.
